Petrobras Shareholders’ Meeting is maintained, says Bento Albuquerque

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, told the sheet this Wednesday (6th) that the date of the general shareholders’ meeting on the 13th, in which Petrobras’ board of directors will be renewed, is maintained.

Until the night of this Tuesday (5), there was an impasse in the choice of names for the presidency of the oil company and the board of directors in the face of the refusal of economist Adriano Pires and businessman Rodolfo Landim for the positions, respectively.

Although there is still no definition, the minister says that the Planalto and the Civil House will reach a consensus in time for all shareholders, especially foreigners, to be able to participate in the vote.

The delay in choosing the company mobilized minority shareholders to ask for a postponement of the meeting.

With the postponement, it would be necessary to keep General Joaquim Silva e Luna in office, who was fired and said he had been betrayed by the president and the minister.

The way the government has been treating Petrobras worries shareholders, who believe there is strong pressure from the Planalto to control the company’s prices. This possibility was presented by the minister to Jair Bolsonaro at the Tuesday meeting and irritated him, at a time when oil is on the rise and the president is preparing to run for reelection.

Fuels have a relevant weight in the calculation of inflation measured by the IPCA and, according to a survey by DataFolha, 68% of Brazilians believe that Bolsonaro is responsible for this situation.

The soaring prices led Bolsonaro to fire the first president of Petrobras in his government. Appointed by the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, Roberto Castello Branco stayed in the position for one year. He was replaced by Silva and Luna, who stayed 11 months.

This inconsistency in the command of the company, which has its own statute and governance despite being controlled by the Union, created resistance in the market and is making it difficult to define the next president of the company.

In the market, many say that they also worry about the political fragility of Minister Bento Albuquerque, who has been blamed by Bolsonaro for the crisis at Petrobras.

According to Planalto advisors, Bolsonaro did not “swallow” Bento’s support for Adriano Pires, who has a consultancy with contracts involving companies that even maintain commercial disputes with Petrobras.