CVM opens new process to investigate Bolsonaro’s speech about Petrobras

The CVM (Securities Commission) opened a new process to investigate statements by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) about Petrobras. It is the third procedure involving the president and the state company in just over a month.

The local authority does not reveal the content of the investigation, which was opened this Monday (6), but the sheet found that it is related to the statement made by Bolsonaro on Sunday (5) regarding a reduction in fuel prices this week.

The President of the Republic said in an interview to the Poder360 website that Petrobras will announce a series of reductions in fuel prices, starting this week. He did not say, however, what the reduction would be or when it would take place.

“We are now announcing, this week, small reductions, at first every week, in the price of fuel,” he stated. In a statement sent to CVM, Petrobras stated that no decision has yet been taken on price changes.

The only public information about the process opened on Monday indicates that the CVM will verify compliance with the rules for the disclosure of news, material facts and communicated by companies with shares traded on the stock exchange.

On October 25, the autarchy had opened a process to investigate statements by Bolsonaro about the privatization of the state-owned company, which had a strong impact on the company’s shares trading on the São Paulo Stock Exchange.

Petrobras was led to publish a statement stating that it questioned the government about studies for privatization and, a week later, received a response from the Ministry of Economy contradicting Bolsonaro’s statement about studies for privatization.

According to the state-owned company, the ministry said “there is no relevant fact to be communicated to the market by the Union at this time or a recommendation to include the privatization of Petrobras in the Investment Partnership Program.”

He also stated that “there are no ongoing studies or evaluations that deal with the issue within the scope of the special secretariat of the ME’s Investment Partnership Program [Ministério da Economia]”.

Another process was opened on the 27th, right after Bolsonaro said that the state-owned company was about to announce new readjustments in fuel prices. The statements were made by the president shortly before the last announcement of readjustments for gasoline and diesel, on the 25th.

Petrobras denies that it anticipates decisions on adjustments to authorities and says that its pricing policy provides for constant monitoring of international markets, with analysis of the behavior of domestic prices in relation to foreign ones.

With his popularity affected by the escalation of fuel prices, Bolsonaro has been seeking to transfer responsibility since the beginning of the year, attacking governors, posts and distributors. After the October readjustments, the president started to target the state-owned company.

He criticized the company’s high profits, said the government had no interest in the dividends it distributes, played a social role in its activities and defended its privatization, saying it cannot interfere with the company’s management but is blamed for the high prices. .

The CVM also has processes open to investigate statements by the President of the Republic at the beginning of the year, when he decided to dismiss the then president of Petrobras, Roberto Castello Branco, through social networks, without complying with the rites for disclosing notices to the market.

On that occasion, the company lost R$ 102.5 billion in market value in just one day, in response to signs of political interference in the company’s management.