Caio Paes de Andrade was appointed by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to the command of Petrobras to give “new dynamics” to fuel prices. Three months later, the numbers show that he fulfilled the mission, but not only: he is accused by opponents of loosening the company’s governance rules and accommodating government allies in positions at the state-owned company.
Since the executive took over, under questioning from minority shareholders for his lack of experience in the sector, the prices of gasoline and diesel sold by the state-owned company have fallen by 19.2% and 13.7%, respectively. The movements reflect the drop in international oil prices, but have been made “drip-drops” to generate positive news.
The price of gasoline was dropped four times and that of diesel three times. Petrobras twice dropped the price of cooking gas and began to disclose changes in the prices of jet fuel and asphalt, which it did not do when oil prices were high.
Thus, in his 14-week term, only 5 had no announcements of price cuts, which have been used by the government as one of the trump cards of Bolsonaro’s re-election campaign, with publications on social networks and visits to posts not only in Brazil, but also in England.
The change in the price disclosure strategy, combined with the constant presence of Paes de Andrade in Brasília, leads opponents to joke that the decision on readjustments is now taken at Palácio do Planalto.
On the 16th, the executive announced the discovery of cancer and the beginning of treatment in the capital, but before that, he did not appear much at the company’s headquarters, in Rio de Janeiro. According to the official agenda published on the state company’s website, he had appointments in Rio in just eight days until the disease was announced.
The rest of the agenda was fulfilled in the Petrobras building in Brasília and in virtual meetings or is “without official commitments”. He has resisted public appearances and has not even participated in meetings to detail the company’s balance with analysts and the press.
In a rare public appearance, he sent a video to the opening of the Rio Oil and Gas fair this Monday (23), in which he reinforced the company’s focus on the pre-salt layer and its efforts to decarbonize operations and advertised the Bolsonaro government, talking about improving the business environment in recent years.
Paes de Andrade’s management is also questioned by minority shareholders and unions for loosening the company’s governance rules. His own nomination was questioned and he had three votes against among the ten councilors able to vote, due to allegations of lack of experience for the position.
To reduce resistance, the government appointed a more aligned council, made up mostly of public office holders, and the People Committee, which analyzes nominations, no longer has minority representatives, as in previous administrations.
The executive also intends to change the Governance board, which has veto power over decisions that generate risk or go against the company’s bylaws. So far, he has only changed the director of Digital Transformation and Innovation, indicating a name close to the president of the Republic, the executive Paulo Palaia.
In the special offices of the presidency, Paes de Andrade has accommodated other people close to the Planalto Palace and the Army. One of them is Colonel Luiz Oávio Franco Duarte, who served under the command of General Eduardo Pazuello at the Ministry of Health. Another is reserve soldier Mario Pedroza da Silveira Pinheiro.
Paes de Andrade appointed four other advisors, all of them from his former team at the Ministry of Economy – he was special secretary for Debureaucratization, Management and Digital Government, appointed by the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, when he was appointed to Petrobras. .
“The balance of the first 90 days of Paes de Andrade’s management shows that Petrobras’ governance is compromised by political indications and attacks on the company’s organizational structure”, says the general coordinator of the FUP (Federação Único dos Petroleiros), Deyvid Bacelar.
“Questionable internal measures are being adopted to facilitate demands from the presidency of the Republic on the eve of the elections”, he adds.
Petrobras says that “all hired professionals have the necessary qualifications to perform their functions and activities”. “We also emphasize that changes in the workforce are part of the management change process in any company.”
On the acceleration of readjustments, the company repeated that there is no defined periodicity for the readjustments. “The company continues to seek to balance its prices with the market, but without passing on to domestic prices the conjunctural volatility of international quotations and the exchange rate”.
“Finally, we clarify that the president works in person both at the headquarters, in Rio de Janeiro, and at the Petrobras building in Brasília; and eventually in São Paulo,” the company added in a statement.
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