Petrobras Committee sees possible conflict of interest in Bolsonaro’s nomination

Responsible for analyzing the nominations for Petrobras’ senior management, the state-owned People’s Committee saw a possible conflict of interest in the appointment of consultant Adriano Pires to preside over the company, made by the government last week.

Pires is a partner at the consulting firm CBIE (Brazilian Infrastructure Center), which provides services to Petrobras clients and competitors. He has been active in defending the interests of sectors that are related to the company, such as thermal energy and natural gas.

The evaluation of the compatibility of the nominees is known as the “background integrity check”, which analyzes possible incompatibilities with the position. In the case of Pires, any conflicts of interest would not be resolved with the transfer of part of him in the CBIE to family members.

This Monday (4), Petrobras shares started the day down after news that Pires will follow in the footsteps of Flamengo’s president, Rodolfo Landim, who announced on Sunday (3) the withdrawal of taking over the presidency of the board of directors. of the state.

The possibility of a conflict of interest had already been raised by the Public Ministry of the TCU (Union Court of Auditors), which asked on Friday (1st) for Pires to be appointed only after an investigation by the CGU (Comptroller General of the Union) and of the Ethics Committee.

So far, Palácio do Planalto and the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) say they have not received any official communiqué about Pires’ withdrawal. The consultant does not answer phone calls or WhatsApp messages sent by the report.

The nominations of Pires and Landim would be evaluated by shareholders of the state-owned company at a meeting scheduled for the 13th. As it has a majority, the government alone would be able to approve, but there is fear that the names will be vetoed by the committee.

In a note released in the early hours of Sunday, Landim said he needed to focus his attention on the command of Flamengo and, therefore, could not take charge of the Petrobras board of directors.

The two appointments were being questioned by the market, which pointed to the proximity of the executives with major Petrobras clients, mainly businessman Carlos Suarez, owner of Termogás, a company that operates in the natural gas sector.

Pires would replace General Joaquim Silva e Luna, fired by Bolsonaro after the mega-increases in fuel prices just under a month ago. Landim would occupy the post of Admiral Eduardo Bacelar Leal Ferreira.

At Petrobras, the appointments are seen as an error by the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy), which did not assess the background of the two nominees, who had the support of Centrão. The government will have to race to find new names in time for shareholder evaluation next week.

Landim was denounced by the Federal Public Ministry for alleged fraudulent management of investments that would have caused losses to the pension funds of employees of Petrobras, Caixa and Banco do Brasil.

Despite the fact that the financial market has celebrated the two government appointments in a new dance of chairs at the state-owned company, among energy specialists, Landim and Pires would form a duo at Petrobras considered embarrassing, due to their connection with Suarez.

Pires also has among its clients Compass, a gas company belonging to the economic group of businessman Rubens Ometto, and it had a strong role in debates in Congress on the new Gas Law and on the thermal plants included as tortoises in the Eletrobras MP.