Bolsonaro defends a social bias for Petrobras and says the company should profit less

President Jair Bolsonaro (no party) defended, this Thursday (28), a “social bias” for Petrobras and stated that the company should make less profit.

During a broadcast on social networks, the president once again declared that a possible privatization of the oil company had entered the government’s radar. He also defended a change in Petrobras’ pricing policy, which links the value of fuels to the international market.

“Because if it is a company that exercises a monopoly, it has to have its social bias, in a good way. Nobody wants Petrobras money for anything; we want Petrobras not to be in deficit, obviously, but also to invest in gas — with more attention to gas — and not just in other areas. So we want a Petrobras focused on this, but we need to change the legislation that passes through Parliament,” said Bolsonaro.

He held a brief live on Thursday before boarding for Rome, where he participates in a G20 meeting.

“I repeat: no one is going to break the contract, no one is going to invent anything. But it has to be a company that makes a profit that is not as high as it has been. Because in addition to high profits for shareholders, Petrobras is paying billion-dollar debts from robberies that took place a short while ago time in the company,” declared the president.

With oil and fuel on the rise, Petrobras posted a profit of BRL 31.1 billion in the third quarter of 2021 and decided to double the amount of dividends distributed to its shareholders, which will reach BRL 63.4 billion in the year.

With the result for the quarter, the company’s accumulated profit in 2021 already totals R$ 75.1 billion. After announcing the distribution of R$ 31.6 billion at the end of the first half, the company’s management proposed on Thursday (28) to pay an additional R$ 31.8 billion to its shareholders, which includes the Union.

By suggesting a change in Petrobras’ pricing policy, Bolsonaro said that the government is seeking a legislative change to make the operation viable. The information, however, is false.

“Petrobras is obliged to increase the price, because it has to follow the legislation. We are here trying to find a way to change the law in this regard,” said the president.

However, there is no law that obliges Petrobras to readjust the fuel. What exists is the pricing policy defined by the state-owned company, which since 2016 has followed oil values ​​on the international market, in dollars. As the real has gone through a strong devaluation against the US currency, this contributes to the increase in fuel prices.

“It’s not fair, you live in a country that pays for everything in real, a country that is practically self-sufficient in oil and has the price of its fuel pegged to the dollar. to look for ways to change,” Bolsonaro said.

In recent weeks, the president made other statements about a possible privatization of Petrobras and even defended the creation of a company fund to stabilize transfers to consumers.

On Oct. 27, he said Petrobras is “only a headache” and said the state-owned company is “doing a service to shareholders and no one else.”

“It’s a state-owned company that with all due respect will only give me a headache. We’re going to find a way to break more monopoly, maybe even put it on the privatization radar,” Bolsonaro said at the time.

During an interview with a radio station on October 25, he said in his turn that the eventual privatization of the oil company would be a “huge complication”.

“When it comes to privatizing Petrobras, this has entered our radar. But privatizing any company is not what some people think, taking the company, putting it on the shelf and tomorrow whoever gives more takes it away. It’s a huge complication, even more so when it comes to in fuel,” he said.

About 10 days earlier, he declared that he wanted to privatize the company.

Collaborated with Nicola Pamplona, ​​from Rio de Janeiro
​With UOL