‘Do you have to get an archbishop to be director of Petrobras?’, says Lira when defending Pires

The president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), defended this Monday (4th) the appointment of consultant Adriano Pires to preside over Petrobras and criticized what he called “false moralism” and “hasty judgment” that only hinders the parents.

Alongside the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Gilmar Mendes, Lira participated in a debate on semi-presidentialism held by Jota. At the event, the deputy spoke about the possible conflict of interest surrounding the appointment of Pires to preside over the state-owned company, made by the government last week.

“The press and perhaps the Public Ministry’s agenda is to condemn the possible president of Petrobras, because he was advising a business group. If I’m in the private sector, can’t I work for any business group? Can’t I provide services?” questioned.

“I mean, do you have to get a civil servant to be a director of Petrobras? Or get an archbishop to be a director of Petrobras?”, Lira continued. “No, you have to put someone who understands oil, someone who understands gas, someone who understands the sector, who will be judged from there on in the actions.”

According to the president of the Chamber, the situation shows a “false moralism, a hasty judgment” in actions that only hinder the country.

Pires’ appointment raised questions about a possible conflict of interest. He is a partner at the consulting firm CBIE (Brazilian Infrastructure Center), which provides services to Petrobras customers and competitors, and has defended interests in sectors that are related to the company, such as thermal energy and natural gas.

In the assessment of Petrobras’ People Committee, responsible for analyzing the nominations for the state’s top management, there is a possible conflict of interest in the appointment of consultant Adriano Pires to preside over the company.

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.

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.