Change in State-Owned Law causes concern, say oil companies

Oil companies with operations in Brazil released a statement late this Wednesday afternoon (14) in defense of the State-Owned Companies Law, which was changed in a flash vote in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday night (13).

Representative of companies in the oil and fuel sector, the IBP (Brazilian Institute of Petroleum and Gas) says that “it is concerned about proposed changes to this legislation without due debate with Congress and Brazilian society”.

The bill approved by the Chamber reduces to 30 days the quarantine of nominees for the administration of public companies and is seen by the opposition as a measure to benefit former minister Aloizio Mercadante, nominated for the presidency of BNDES (National Bank for Social Economic Development).

The change received criticism from investors and the Instituto Não Accept Corrupção, for whom the approval rite was similar to the proposal to “pass the cattle” to loosen environmental rules, made by former Minister of the Environment Ricardo Salles in the midst of the pandemic.

Among the members of the IBP are Petrobras, its partners in the pre-salt layer and the country’s largest fuel distributors, which are clients of the state-owned company’s refineries. For the institute, the law “represented a breakthrough in the field of public management, with the strengthening of the governance of public companies”.

“It allowed the appointment of executives to positions of directors and president of these companies and members of the Board of Directors to follow a ritual based on technical criteria, making the appointment of these high-ranking professionals more in line with the principles of transparency and meritocracy”, he says. the text.

The IBP argues that, as a reflection of the law, there was an improvement in the operational performance and in the economic indicators of the state-owned companies, “as well as greater security for the agents that operate in the market, providing a better allocation of resources and attraction of new investments”.

The institute points out that the law can be improved, but advocates broad debate on possible changes.

Mercadante’s advisory alleges that the project does not influence his appointment to the presidency of the BNDES, since he currently presides over the Perseu Abramo Foundation, “which is not part of the PT’s decision-making structure”.

“Mercadante did not perform any remunerated function in President Lula’s victorious campaign, having not been linked to any activity of organization, structuring or execution of the campaign”, says the text.