Petrobras Summit should defend maintenance of price policy

The new president of Petrobras, Caio Paes de Andrade, scheduled for this Tuesday (28) a series of separate meetings with each of the eight directors of the state company.

The expectation is that in these conversations he will already give the signs of the first steps he intends to take in the company, especially on the pricing policy. The directors are responsible for any change in the pricing policy.

In the first conversations he had with members of Petrobras’ command, Paes de Andrade gave no signs of what he intends to do. If the option is to change, you will be warned that it could jeopardize not only Petrobras’ ongoing contracts, by raising the possibility of legal uncertainty, but also your own legal situation.

This is because there are at least three national bodies keeping an eye on the movements (Administrative Council for Economic Defense, the Securities Commission and the Federal Audit Court), as well as international bodies (Securities & Exchange Commission, the body that regulates the capital market and at US State Department). It should also be warned that a change could disrupt one of the main intentions of the economic team, Brazil’s entry into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The arsenal of arguments shows that, even if the new president wants to change policy, he will face an adverse scenario. And, to change the board, it is necessary that the Council remove it.

The government, as a majority shareholder, currently has a majority on the Board, but the new formation with the six new names presented this month should take a few weeks.

The analysis of the names is being done in blocks and needs to be endorsed by the Board of Directors. In the first week of July, a part of the names must be analyzed and the rest of them the following week. If all the names are approved, a shareholders’ meeting will be called in at least 30 days to ratify the new composition of the collegiate.