President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) called the new Petrobras adjustment a “betrayal to the Brazilian people” and said he is articulating with the Chamber of Deputies the creation of a CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) to investigate the direction of Petrobras .
“I just talked to Arthur Lira (PP-AL), he is currently meeting with party leaders. Our idea is to propose a CPI to investigate the president of Petrobras [José Mauro Ferreira Coelho]its directors and also the administrative and fiscal council”, declared Bolsonaro, during an interview with a network in Rio Grande do Norte.
“Because we want to know if there is something wrong with their conduct. It is inconceivable to grant a readjustment with fuel up there and with the exorbitant profits that Petrobras is having.”
“It is a betrayal of the Brazilian people. The president of Petrobras, its directors and its board have betrayed the Brazilian people. Petrobras’ profit is something that no one can understand, something stupid. It makes six times more than the average of oil companies all over the world”, he said.
During the interview, Bolsonaro also stated that the Petrobras command is “boycotting” the Minister of Mines and Energy, Adolfo Sachsida, who is trying to replace José Mauro and other board members.
“In exchange, we can put competent people in there [da Petrobras] in order to understand the company’s social purpose and not grant this readjustment, which destroys the Brazilian economy and leads to inflation for the entire population. It leads to a loss of purchasing power for the entire population, which is already experiencing a very critical situation in terms of their purchasing power,” Bolsonaro said.
He also said that the CPI “is the way” to “display all those who command this irrational process of increasing fuel prices in Brazil.”
“Understand that, [com] a CPI investigating the president [da Petrobras], the directors and the staff of the councils, we are going to put an end to this. The most important thing is to change the president and directors of Petrobras. We hope to be able to do that in the next few days.”
The current president of the state-owned company, José Mauro Coelho, was nominated for the position by the government to succeed Joaquim Silva e Luna – fired by Bolsonaro for readjusting the state’s prices.
Coelho is the third Petrobras commander fired by Bolsonaro during his term.
Petrobras announced this Friday (17) readjustments of 5.2% in the price of gasoline and 14.2% in the price of diesel, claiming that the oil market has undergone structural change and that it is necessary to seek convergence with prices international.
After 99 days without increases, the average price of gasoline at the state-owned refineries will rise from R$3.86 to R$4.06 per liter. The price of diesel will go from R$ 4.91 to R$ 5.61 per liter. The last adjustment occurred 39 days ago.
On Thursday (16), the company’s board of directors rejected the government’s request to avoid readjustments, arguing that the definition of prices is the responsibility of the executive board. The meeting had been convened at the request of the Chief of Staff, Ciro Nogueira.
The request was a last gambit by the government to try to avoid the increase amid an effort to pass a package of measures to try to reduce prices, which, according to President Bolsonaro, could lower gasoline and diesel prices by R$2 and R$ 1 per litre, respectively.
On the morning of this Friday (17), the Chief Executive resumed criticism of Petrobras and said that the company “can plunge Brazil into chaos”.
“Its president, directors and advisers are well aware of what happened with the truckers’ strike in 2018, and the disastrous consequences for Brazil’s economy and the lives of our people.”
The president of the Chamber, deputy Arthur Lira (PP-AL), told the Sheet that “goes to the dick” to “review all prices” of fuel. He also defended the resignation of the president of Petrobras and said he will work to tax the oil company’s profit.
“I called Zé Mauro [presidente da Petrobras] yesterday [quinta, 16]. I asked him not to give a raise, [disse]: ‘you are working against, what is expected of Petrobras is something else’; and I said I was going to do a job to fire him, I’m going to propose with the government to tax Petrobras’ profits. He [respondeu]: ‘not quite, is the advice [de administração]I’m not postponing my departure,'” said Lira.
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