It is not possible to interfere with fuel prices, says Minister of Mines and Energy

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Adolfo Sachsida, said this Tuesday (21) that the government has no power to interfere in the price of fuel and that the name of Caio Paes de Andrade “meets all the necessary criteria to be ahead” from Petrobras.

“I respect President José Mauro [Coelho], former president of Petrobras. All respect to him, to CA [Conselho Administrativo], its directors. But, as soon as I took over as minister, I thought it was good to promote a change in the company because I believe it is time to increase competition. There is no way to help the Brazilian consumer with the current structure.”

José Mauro Coelho resigned this Monday (20) in the face of President Jair Bolsonaro’s offensive to try to reduce fuel prices before the elections and the announcement of a Petrobras CPI.

Caio Paes de Andrade is Secretary of Debureaucratization at the Ministry of Economy and was nominated by the government to assume the presidency of Petrobras. José Mauro Coelho had already been fired at the end of May, but he resisted leaving the company before the shareholders’ meeting.

Adolfo Sachsida also stated that it is not possible to interfere with fuel prices and that the government is trying to “alleviate the problem” by reducing taxes.

“I understand that many of you are charged by the population because it is difficult for the population to understand why the government does not interfere in the price of fuel. With all the transparency, I need to be clear: it is not possible to interfere in the price”, said the minister. to federal deputies.

“It’s not in the government’s control. And, honestly, price is a company decision, not the government’s. Also, we have legal frameworks that prevent government interventions in running a company, even though the government is the majority shareholder.” completed.

Adolfo Sachsida participates in a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies. He was invited to speak about fuel prices and the government’s intention to privatize Petrobras, announced as soon as he took office.

The Minister of Mines and Energy made a PowerPoint presentation indicating that Petrobras had more profit than the average of other oil companies and that it also has more personnel expenses, according to him. Asked if he was proud of the state-owned company’s profit, he replied that he was not.

“The question was ‘excessive profit punishing the population, if I’m proud of it’. No, I’m not, of course not. All of us here have social responsibility,” he said. He then repeated the statement that the government has no influence on the state-owned company’s decisions.

“But, look, I speak as someone who is not in the company. Petrobras is a listed company and decisions are made by its president, its directors and its Board of Directors. There is no government influence in these decisions. What the government does is choose its president and appoint some members of the Board of Directors to give some guidance to the company.”