Petrobras internal committee gives approval, and board must approve new president this Thursday

The committee responsible for analyzing nominations for the Petrobras leadership gave the endorsement, this Tuesday (24), for the appointment of Jean Paul Prates to the presidency of the state-owned company. The nominee by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) will be considered by the board of directors this Thursday (26).

The government’s assessment is that, although the collegiate is formed mostly by bolsonaristas, there will be no resistance to the nomination. Prates has already secured the votes of representatives of minorities and workers and would need only one vote from Union nominees to have a majority.

The expectation is that the board will remain with the current formation until the ordinary general meeting in April, when the company’s shareholders evaluate, among other things, the approval of the accounts and the allocation of the 2022 results.

The date of inauguration has not yet been defined, as Prates’ term in the Senate has not yet ended. But he should start announcing names for the board later this week, so that the nominees are evaluated by the internal committee.

For the time being, there are two names quoted, who also participated in the transition team: economist William Nozaki, from the Institute for Strategic Studies on Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels; and Maurício Tolmasquim, who commanded EPE (Empresa de Pesquisa Energética) in PT administrations.

Prates spent the last few days in meetings in Rio de Janeiro, both with representatives of the state-owned company and with people linked to the sector and academics, with whom he discussed topics related to the company and possible names for its management, which has eight members.

He will take over Petrobras shortly after the first readjustment in the price of gasoline in the Lula government, announced this Tuesday, a decision criticized by the FUP (United Federation of Petroleum Workers), which appointed a representative for the transition team of the elected government.

Sought after, the future president of Petrobras preferred not to take a position on the 7.4% increase, which was expected by the market and, according to the assessment of importers and analysts, does not cover the gap in relation to international quotations.

Prates defends changes in the company’s pricing policy, eliminating the concept of import parity, which simulates how much it would cost to bring products from abroad and was implemented in the Michel Temer (MDB) government.

The new government also wants a Petrobras more focused on investment than on shareholder remuneration, returning to segments abandoned in previous administrations, such as fertilizers, petrochemicals and renewable energies.

In 2022, Petrobras closed the first quarter as the largest dividend payer in the world, a reflection of a policy of reducing investments and costs, combined with the increase in international oil prices after the most critical period of the pandemic.

In November, one day after disclosing the fourth highest profit ever recorded by a company in the country, the company’s shares plummeted on Stock Exchanges, in the face of fears over political uncertainties and changes in the shareholder remuneration policy.