Government replaces new president of Petrobras

The government announced this Monday (23) that it has decided to change the president of Petrobras, 39 days after José Mauro Coelho took office at the helm of the company. The news reached the executive just over an hour before it was announced by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, to which the state company is linked.

To replace Zé Mauro, as he is known in the market, Caio Mário Paes de Andrade was invited — who acts as special secretary to Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) and, if his name is confirmed by the company, will be the company’s fourth president in the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

According to a member of the Petrobras board who spoke on condition of anonymity, the nominee does not meet the requirements for the position required by the Petrobras Senior Management Appointment Policy.

Andrade, who had already been quoted to occupy the company’s presidency last month, has no proven experience of at least three years in the oil and gas market. The closest to this is the position of advisor to the state-owned Pré-Sal Petróleo SA (PPSA), which manages the Union’s oil and gas contracts, since January 2021 (one year and five months ago).

The nominee for the company is close to the Minister of Mines and Energy, Adolfo Sachsida – who was also part of Guedes’ team.

The choices of Sachsida and Andrade for the posts of minister of the MME and president of Petrobras represent the resumption of Guedes’ strength over the company.

The minister, who has been expressing his displeasure with the company’s leadership in recent months, now has the opportunity to control several of the decisions related to the company as the government – ​​including himself – fights for Bolsonaro’s re-election.

Guedes appointed the first president of Petrobras as soon as Bolsonaro assumed the presidency. Economist Roberto Castello Branco, however, stayed in office for just over a year.

It was overturned by Bolsonaro’s pressure for fuel price interference, which, at that moment, was already climbing due to the beginning of increases in the value of the Brent barrel, a basic input for the production of fuels and derivatives.

Castello Branco was replaced by General Joaquim Silva e Luna, an ally of the then Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque. Both were fired under pressure from the Planalto. Silva e Luna left in February and the minister in May.

Although the change of the president of Petrobras on Monday night was a surprise within the company, in recent days it was taken for granted by the government.

Bolsonaro himself signaled in one of his weekly lives recently that he would make more “people changes” when he referred to the company.

Coelho began to suffer from frying shortly after his arrival in office, after the company announced a readjustment in the price of diesel in early May. The increase in the average value of fuel was 8.87% at the refineries.

This Monday, Bolsonaro again criticized the company after it was found that a Bolivian company is sending less gas to the Brazilian oil company than the contracted one – forcing the company to seek the product from other countries. “It’s a business that seems orchestrated to exactly favor you know who,” he told supporters.

Bolsonaro criticizes both the company’s readjustments and Petrobras’ quarterly profit of R$44.5 billion, which he called “rape” this month. “Petrobras, we are at war. Petrobras, do not increase the price of fuel anymore. Your profit is rape, it is absurd. You cannot increase the price of fuel any more”, declared the president, during his weekly live.

In a note about the exchange, the government says that the country is going through a challenging moment and that it is necessary to work for a “balanced scenario in the energy area”.

“Several geopolitical factors known to all result in impacts not only on the price of gasoline and diesel, but on all energy components”, says the Ministry of Mines and Energy, in a note.

According to the ministry, it is necessary to maintain the necessary conditions for the growth of employment and income for Brazilians and “strengthen the investment capacity of the private sector as a whole”. “Working and contributing to a balanced scenario in the energy area is fundamental for the generation of value for the company, generating benefits for the whole society”, says the ministry.

With the move, the government intervenes in the company less than five months before the elections, at a time when fuel prices impact the popularity of Bolsonaro, who remains in second place in the polls.

A Datafolha survey shows that, for most Brazilians (68%), Bolsonaro’s administration is responsible for the rise in fuel prices.

Newly chosen to command the state-owned company, Andrade is responsible for the special secretariat for Management, Debureaucratization and Digital Government. The folder is responsible for digitizing various government services — and, therefore, has transit in several ministries and wings of the Bolsonaro government.

Andrade is suspected of using the public machine to search a company’s financial data. In a case that he is processing in São Paulo, Conclusiva Empreendimento e Participações claims that the Ministry of Economy accessed information about the company available on Serasa without having reasons.

Conclusiva questions Andrade in court to find out if he authorized access to help Captalys, which belongs to Luís Cláudio Garcia de Souza, a friend of the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes. Captalys is chaired by Margot Greenman, wife of Paes de Andrade until 2020.

The secretary denies having performed or authorized the access. The process is still in progress.

Andrade has a degree in Social Communication from Universidade Paulista, a postgraduate degree in Administration and Management from Harvard University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Duke University. He is the founder and advisor of the Make It Happen Institute.

In 2019, it moved from the private sector to the public sector. He was president of state-owned Serpro until August 2020, when he assumed a position in Guedes’s portfolio. In addition to being a counselor at PPSA, he has the same position at state-owned Embrapa

Petrobras presidents under Bolsonaro:

1. Roberto Castello Branco: from January 3, 2019 to April 13, 2021;
2. Joaquim Silva and Luna: from April 16, 2021 to April 13, 2022;
3. Jose Mauro Ferreira Coelho: from April 14, 2022 to May 23, 2022 (day of resignation announcement)
4. Caio Mario Paes de Andrade (guest)