Military enter the field to keep Petrobras president in office

Military of the highest ranks came together to contain political articulations for the withdrawal of General Joaquim Silva e Luna from the presidency of Petrobras.

The defensive movement emerged over the weekend after the sons of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) published criticisms against the general’s management on their social media.

Led by the Vice President of the Republic, General Hamilton Mourão, the military articulated to convince Bolsonaro that there is nothing wrong with Petrobras’ pricing policy.

The group claims that, from now on, the measures approved in Congress will be enough to smooth the edges between the company, which defends the shareholders, and the government, which holds the controlling interest.

The trend, in the assessment of this wing, is for prices to fall not only with the reduction of ICMS, but also due to the drop in oil prices due to a possible cooling off in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

After almost two months without making adjustments and on the eve of drastic changes in fuel taxation, Petrobras announced a 19% readjustment on gasoline in refineries and 25% on diesel. At stations located further away from the country, such as in Acre, the liter of gasoline reached R$11.

Last week, in private meetings, Bolsonaro showed opposition to Petrobras’ attitude.

The president wanted to have the ICMS reduction and standardization project approved by Congress before the pump readjustment. Had it been that way, Bolsonaro would have presented an immediate solution to the problem.

Thus, the president, who intends to run for re-election, would reduce the damage to his popularity with the electorate.

In the Economy, advisors to Minister Paulo Guedes confirmed the “combined game”. The strategy, however, got out of control because Petrobras announced the readjustment before the final result of the vote on the ICMS bill in Congress.

General Silva e Luna, in turn, shows no embarrassment and told Reuters on Monday (14) that he will not step down.

“I’m a soldier. The battlefield is my comfort zone. I don’t run away from the battlefield, abandoning my troops. There is no crisis,” he said.

Even privately, the general has indicated that he will not resign.

Luna was chosen as president of Petrobras last year, after an operation similar to the current one that led to the departure of economist Roberto Castello Branco, a name linked to Guedes.

At that time, the wear and tear was also caused by fuel price readjustments following the policy of practically passing through the price of oil. This time, Petrobras had been contingeting the transfers, which generated a lag of around 30% for gasoline and 40% for diesel.

This difference led to a temporary reduction in revenue with an impact on the company’s results. The company’s shareholders sent alerts to Palácio do Planalto that they could go to court to have these losses covered by the Union – something provided for in the company’s statute.

The pandemic and the war in Ukraine made the prices of a barrel of oil soar, reaching R$ 140 a barrel, pressuring Petrobras to make more readjustments – which had been insured.

Fuels are one of the items that weigh the most in the calculation of inflation measured by the IPCA. Economists already calculate that the target ceiling (5%) should be breached again this year.

After the adjustment announced by Petrobras last week, market analysts consulted by the Central Bank raised their inflation estimates to above 6%.

With the rise in oil, many importers stopped supplying important centers in the country, especially the North and Northeast, forcing Petrobras to import more to serve these regions.

Silva e Luna even stated that, without the readjustment, to make these local operations profitable, there would be a risk of shortages.

However, over the weekend, politicians linked to Minister Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI) saw an opening to pressure the Planalto for the replacement of the general as a way to gain more control in the energy, oil and gas sector.

This wing is fighting a dispute with the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, for appointments in companies and regulatory agencies in the sector.

Leader in the polls of voting intentions, former president Lula took advantage of the theme to attack Bolsonaro on social media, which gave more strength to the internal movement in the Planalto against Silva and Luna.

Attentive to these movements, Mourão began to articulate with other generals to contain this artillery.

Led by the vice president, the military mobilized to convince the closest wing to Bolsonaro not to put Rodolfo Landim in the place of Silva e Luna.

Landim, president of Flamengo, will assume a seat on the board of the state-owned company. Behind the scenes, advisors to the president comment that Landim would resign as chairman of the board if he were chosen to take the helm of the company.

His appointment to the collegiate body is seen within the company as a step to facilitate an eventual change in command of the state-owned company, since the company’s president must first be elected to the board.

Thus, the government would avoid the need to maintain an interim while the legal deadlines for the election of a new director of directors are respected.

This Monday (14), Mourão said that General Silva e Luna, from Petrobras, can handle the pressure, “like a good Northeasterner”.

“Silva e Luna is resilient, always has been. As a good Northeasterner, he can handle pressure.” The general is from Pernambuco.

When consulted, however, Mourão denied being part of this movement in support of the president of Petrobras.