Petrobras privatization has no deadline to be sent to Congress, says government

The federal government agency responsible for establishing partnerships with the private sector reported this Thursday (2) that there is no deadline for submitting a project to the National Congress to make possible the privatization of Petrobras.

The PPI (Investment Partnership Program) approved the recommendation to the Chief Executive to begin studies for the sale of the state-owned oil company.

The program’s secretary, Bruno Leal, said that the next step in the evolution of the theme is the publication of a decree by Bolsonaro with two objectives: to include Petrobras in the PPI letter and to institute a committee formed by the Ministries of Economy and Mines and Energy to conduct studies.

The idea is that this collegiate body is responsible for preparing the proposal to be sent to the National Congress to authorize the privatization of Petrobras.

Leal said that congressional approval is required due to the Law on the National Privatization Program, which does not allow the sale of the state-owned oil company. He stated, however, that there is no deadline for publication of Bolsonaro’s decree, nor for sending the proposal to Congress.

“It will be up to this committee to analyze measures that will be carried out within the scope of the Executive to be able to make the legislative proposal”, he said.

Regarding the PPSA (Pré-Sal Petróleo SA), the Special Secretary for Privatization, Divestment and Markets of the Ministry of Economy, Diogo Mac Cord, said that approval of a project in the Legislature is also necessary to authorize the sale of the exploration contracts for the pre -salt to the private sector.

“It is important to make it clear that the company itself, in principle, has no value. We are talking about a sharing regime contract, which is the asset that belongs to the federal government. So, exactly how this will happen will be the result of studies that will be made from the inter-ministerial committee”, he said.