Government faces resistance to Petrobras board nominees

Petrobras is already analyzing information about the new nominees to compose the company’s board of directors, but the government must face resistance from minority shareholders for non-compliance with the requirements set out in the State-owned Companies Law.

The most controversial case is that of Jonathas Assunção, executive secretary of the Civil House appointed to preside over the state-owned company’s board of directors. The law prohibits the appointment of a holder of a position “of a special nature or of superior management and advice in public administration”.

Number two in the portfolio led by federal deputy Ciro Nogueira (PP), one of the leaders of the center, Assunção is the first occupant of the Planalto Palace appointed to the Petrobras board since the Dilma Rousseff government.

The list of nominations sent by the government last week received criticism from private shareholders, for being composed mostly of holders of public offices, confirming expectations that President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) wants a more aligned council.

Another indication that should be questioned is that of Ricardo Soriano de Alencar, attorney general of the National Treasury, due to conflict of interests, since the agency is an antagonistic part of the state-owned company in processes of a fiscal nature.

The compatibility of appointments at Petrobras is analyzed by a specific committee called the Eligibility Committee and then evaluated by the People Committee, made up of three members of the board of directors and two external members.

Known as “background integrity check”, this process includes not only the evaluation of the curriculum, it also investigates if the candidates are targets of lawsuits, have debts or have acted in political parties, for example.

There are also questions about the appointment of the company’s new president, Caio Paes de Andrade, who would not have the required experience in the oil sector or in companies the size of Petrobras, as he built his career in a startup accelerator in the technology sector. .

Paes de Andrade was appointed to replace José Mauro Coelho, who was fired about a month after taking office for disagreements over fuel pricing policy.

The government tried to force Coelho to resign, which would eliminate the need for renewal of the board of directors, but was unsuccessful. So, last week, he sent the state company a list with ten names to compete for eight seats on the collegiate.

Of the ten, six are holders of public office. Two are already directors —Márcio Weber, current president, and Ruy Flacks Schneider— and two others are representatives of Petrobras’ largest individual shareholder, Banco Clássico.

The latter, banker Juca Abdalla and lawyer Marcelo Gasparino, had been elected in the assembly that confirmed Coelho’s appointment and made an agreement with the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) to run again.

Bolsonaro is in a hurry to change the command of the state-owned company, but the current board of directors will only convene the assembly after evaluating the list of nominees by the People’s Committee, respecting a decree edited by the President of the Republic himself.

It takes at least 30 days between the call and the holding of the meeting, which means that the meeting should not take place before the end of July.