Paes de Andrade takes over as president of Petrobras

Without official ceremony, the new president of Petrobras, Caio Paes de Andrade, took office this Tuesday (28), the state-owned company said in a note. The executive is the fourth nominated by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to take office in the company.

The appointment of Paes de Andrade was confirmed by the Petrobras board of directors this Monday (27), with votes from seven of the ten directors eligible to vote. The other three rejected the nomination over questions about their eligibility for the post.

“Caio took office in Rio de Janeiro, the company’s headquarters, on an internal agenda,” Petrobras said. He is the first of four Petrobras presidents under Bolsonaro not to hold an inauguration ceremony attended by outside guests.

Although the new president of Petrobras has told the internal committee that he has not received “any guidance” to change the policy on fuel prices, the government expects him to hold new adjustments at least until the presidential elections.

To this end, the government tries to reinforce the discourse that the state-owned company needs to improve the social part of its ESG (environment, sustainability and governance) agenda.

The password was already given last week by Minister Adolfo Sachsida (Mines and Energy), during a hearing at the Mines and Energy Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. He argued that companies should “think about the brand’s reputation for the long term”, not just the short term.

He claims that all the world’s oil companies have minority interests and “all are taking losses to preserve the brand”, citing those that left Russia because of the Ukrainian War. “It is natural that Petrobras also makes sacrifices.”

Oil workers are still trying to block the appointment, claiming that it violates the company’s statute and the State-owned Companies Law. In the second, they announced a complaint to the CVM (Securities Commission), alleging that their possession could “generate instability and unwanted fluctuation in the company’s capital market”.

In the statement on the inauguration, Petrobras repeated its defense of the curriculum of Paes de Andrade, who has a degree in social communication and has not worked in companies in the oil sector or the size of the state-owned company, as required by law.

The state-owned company claims that he is “an entrepreneur with proven successes in information technology, real estate and agribusiness, he founded and/or led the construction of several emblematic companies in the Brazilian Information Technology market”.

To expand its influence in the management of the state-owned company, the government is still trying to renew the company’s board of directors, if it wants to increase interference in its management. The process must face challenges for a series of restrictions on the nominees.

The names for the new board were presented at the beginning of the month, but there is still no date for the shareholders’ meeting that will elect the new board members. The current collegiate awaits the analysis of the candidates’ CVs to convene the meeting.

The list of nominees is made up mostly of people who hold public positions, which has been generating criticism among workers and minority shareholders, who see possible conflicts of interest or restrictions provided for in the State-Owned Companies Law.