Petrobras president resigns, says agency; government announces nomination of Prates

The president of Petrobras, Caio Paes de Andrade, communicated to the board of the state-owned company his request for resignation, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

At the same time, the Ministry of Mines and Energy informed this Tuesday (3) to the board of Petrobras that Senator Jean Paul Prates (PT-RN) will be nominated to exercise the position of president and member of the company’s board, said the note folder.

The official nomination will be formalized after the procedures at the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic, added the ministry.

According to one of the sources, the procedures at the Civil House can already be concluded in about a day.

Sought, Petrobras did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Andrade’s resignation.

In a statement to the market, however, he confirmed that he had received a letter from the Ministry of Mines and Energy about nominating Prates. At the end of December, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had already signaled through his Twitter account that Prates would be nominated to lead the oil company.

In addition to the statement informing about his nomination for the presidency of the company, the Ministry of Mines and Energy must send the company a request to call a General Shareholders’ Meeting for the approval of the name Prates to the board. The oil company’s statute requires that its chairman be chosen by the board of directors from among its members.

After the official nomination, Prates’ name will be submitted to the internal governance procedures for integrity and eligibility analysis, under the terms of the legislation, the Policy for Nominating Members of Senior Management and the Fiscal Council of Petrobras, and the Company’s Bylaws .

Such an analysis could take eight to nine days, according to this source. Afterwards, Petrobras must still meet a period of 30 days between the call and the holding of the meeting.

The mandate of the current president, Caio Paes de Andrade, would end in April. The executive will join the new government of São Paulo, commanded by Governor Tarcísio de Freitas.

With the resignation and vacancy of the position, the bylaws provide that the chairman of the board of directors appoint the replacement from among the other members of the executive board until the election of the new chairman.

In case of vacancy in the position of director, the bylaws provide that the replacement will be appointed by the remaining directors and will serve until the first general meeting.

The resignation of Andrade’s predecessor (José Mauro Coelho), last year, allowed him to act as director on an interim basis even before the assembly confirmed his name, which one of the sources said could also happen to Prates.

PERFORMANCE

With over 25 years of experience in the energy sector, Prates has advocated that Petrobras increase its investments in renewables, in line with other global oil companies, and in the refining area, in search of energy security.

The senator has also questioned the state-owned company’s pricing policy, which is currently in line with international market practices.

Prates’ participation in consulting companies in the oil and gas sector will be analyzed by the committees that evaluate the resumes of future Petrobras executives, but this past performance is not seen as an obstacle for the politician to assume command of the oil company, he said earlier. the senator’s press office told Reuters.

In 1991, he founded a pioneering consultancy specializing in oil, having 120 associated consultants, according to a previously published resume.

The senator also participated in other companies for this purpose. However, currently, the companies in which Prates participated “have been deactivated for several years or he already left them a few years ago”, said his advisor.

“There is nothing to prevent someone from a company in the sector from holding a management position at Petrobras, as long as they leave (or have already left) that company”, he added.