Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) receives this Monday (11) the presidents of the airlines Latam, Gol, Azul and Passaredo. The companies want to show the head of the economic team their concern with the price of aviation kerosene and take the opportunity to ask for tax relief from the sector.
According to the companies, fuel had already risen 76% in 2021 and now accounts for 50% of costs (instead of the traditional 30%) amid the war in Ukraine and the resulting soaring oil price.
The companies claim that the scenario generated a loss of R$ 16.5 billion last year for the sector and has led to an increase in ticket prices and the reprogramming of airline networks. The sector sees a moment of fragility while still trying to recover from the pandemic crisis.
At least part of the rising values ​​are to blame for competition problems in the fuel market, in the view of the sector – which is also scheduled to meet with the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL).
Specifically, the companies complain about what they call Petrobras’ monopoly, oligopoly in the distribution chain, lack of transparency in fuel pricing and the oil company’s international parity policy.
The charges and taxes applied to the sector are also the subject of orders. Executives want a tax refinancing program (Refis) for the sector, or at least a deferral of air traffic control fees.
In addition, they ask for relief measures related to payroll taxation, hazardous work premium, Cofins applied to imports, state ICMS (Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services) and income tax on aircraft leasing.
In the case of complaints about Petrobras, the meeting of the companies with the authorities this week adds to a movement already made at Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense).
As shown in the Panel SA column, last month the companies took to the antitrust agency, through associations, complaints about Petrobras in the process that investigates possible violations of the economic order by the oil company.
The purpose of the request presented to Cade is to make the antitrust body include aviation kerosene in the investigation opened in January about the readjustments or open a new investigation.
The claim at CADE was opened by associations such as Abear (Brazilian Association of Airlines) and Iata (International Air Transport Association). In short, they defend the need for increased competition in fuels.
“There is a de facto monopoly on the production and import of the QAV [querosene de aviação] by Petrobras, [que atua] as an almost exclusive supplier of QAV in the country”, affirm the associations in the petition to CADE.
The associations also claim that Petrobras makes small price fluctuations, charging more when there is no threat of competition and less when it notices other companies’ intentions to import. This is because competitors would necessarily have to use Petrobras’ logistics infrastructure for imports, giving the oil company the ability to monitor the market.
In addition, the airlines say that the sale of refineries – according to Cade – will not solve the problems because Petrobras would still be the only producer in the most relevant markets.
This week, the companies intend to ask the Ministry of Economy to create a permanent dialogue table between the government and the sector, to discuss solutions to the problems pointed out.
There is a de facto monopoly in the production and import of aviation kerosene by Petrobras, which, in addition to owning almost the entirety of the infrastructure for refining and handling oil and derivatives, also has a dominant share in imports.
The Ministry of Economy sees no objections to the creation of this communication channel and, as Sheet, members of the ministry agree with the content of at least part of the manifestations about Petrobras – since members of the ministry have spoken in a reserved way that the oil company’s price policy, although it cannot be changed, is questionable. In addition, they have an initiative by Cade.
The measures of tax cuts, in turn, are already seen with more reticence in Guedes’s portfolio. There is not much scope for new initiatives in the IR (Income Tax) on aircraft leasing, for example, as it has already had its solution for a period of five years sent through MP (Provisional Measure) published on December 31, 2021 — and which is still pending in Congress.
The MP reduced the income tax on operations to zero until the end of 2023 and established a staggered increase thereafter to 1% in 2024, 2% in 2025 and 3% in 2026. MPs have immediate force of law, but need to be endorsed by Congress within four months to become definitive – otherwise, they are no longer valid (in this case, the rate would be raised to 15%).
Sought, Latam reinforced the difficulties by saying that the scenario postponed the launch of routes and raised the price of tickets and services by up to 30%. The company says it “remains aware of external vulnerability due to the war in Ukraine, which has a direct impact on the price of oil”.
Gol, Azul and Petrobras did not send statements until the publication of this text.
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