“I’m out of electricity”, says Paulo Guedes about the future of Petrobras

The Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, said that he is “without the light” on the situation of Petrobras. The answer comes after the newspaper O Globo reported that President Jair Bolsonaro’s choice to preside over the company, economist Adriano Pires, would have given up his nomination to the state’s board.

THE CNN Guedes said he didn’t know. “I don’t know that, I am uninformed,” he said as he left a hotel in the south of Rio de Janeiro after having lunch with Bolsonaro, authorities and businessmen.

Asked about the president having received the information about Adriano Pires’ withdrawal, the minister said: “I don’t know, I didn’t talk about it with him”. Guedes also said that the change in the state-owned company was not his business.

Before leaving the place, the journalists asked the Minister of Economy to shed “a light” on the future of Petrobras. “I’m out of light,” he said.

On Sunday (3), the federal government was taken by surprise with the withdrawal of Rodolfo Landim, who had been nominated to assume the presidency of Petrobras’ Board of Directors.

Landim said that he would need to focus efforts on Flamengo, since he is the club’s president, and that he recognizes that he would have a lot of work if he took the position on the state board at that moment.

The current president of the company, Joaquim Silva e Luna was fired by Bolsonaro. The name of the nominee, economist Adriano Pires, however, goes through a fine-tooth comb inside and outside the state-owned company.

The economist is one of the partners at the Brazilian Infrastructure Center (CBIE), a company that provides consultancy in the oil and gas area. His son, Pedro Rodrigo Pires, runs the CBIE.

According to Law 13.303/2016 (State-owned Companies Law), executives from companies such as Petrobras are prohibited from having relatives in competing ventures.