Eletrobras privatization will be carried out until July, says Bento Albuquerque

The government will have to reschedule the Eletrobras capitalization offer after the postponement of the TCU (Union Court of Auditors) judgment and plans to carry out the operation until July this year, said this Friday the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque.

In a virtual press conference during a visit to India, Albuquerque assessed that the process had progressed, even though the TCU had postponed the final decision by 20 days. “It was an advance in the sense that the rapporteur presented his vote, there was an opportunity for the vote to be discussed among all the ministers”, he evaluated.

Minister Vital do Rêgo’s request for a review at the TCU plenary session on Wednesday (20) ended up frustrating the conclusion of the stock offering until May 13.

The postponement led the government and Eletrobras to redo the schedule of the next steps in the process, but maintain the effort to complete the operation this year. The sale of company shares is among the main priorities of Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) in the final stretch of the term of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Executive and company members consulted by the Sheet sought to demonstrate an optimistic view this Thursday (21) by saying that privatization can still happen in a window that closes in mid-August. They reinforce that there are no legal impediments for the operation to take place so close to the elections and that the mobilization in the Executive is great to complete the process.

Asked about the influence of the electoral calendar on the success of the operation, Bento Albuquerque stressed that the market has shown “a lot of interest” in participating in the offer. “We believe that it could happen, yes, without a doubt, until the month of July of this year”, he said.

(with Fabio Pupo)