Petrobras today causes inconvenience to the entire country, says Lira

The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), declared, this Tuesday (5), that the current situation of Petrobras causes an inconvenience for the whole of Brazil.

Claiming to have no relationship whatsoever with Adriano Pires, an economist appointed to take over the presidency in place of General Joaquim Silva e Luna, but who declined the invitation on Monday (4), Lira criticized the formatting of the law that governs the rules for nominations for positions in state-owned companies, which would prevent “a market name” from directing the oil company.

“I don’t have, as was reported in the press, any kind of relationship with Adriano Pires. I was never personally with Adriano Pires, I never spoke personally with Adriano Pires. I reported to him at the leaders’ meeting when we were voting on the gas law to ask a question about this subject, because he is recognized as a great scholar who understands this subject. He even gives advice”, says Lira.

“And you can’t start from the premise that a guy, because he gives advice in the private sector, is a private company. He cannot take command of a public company because that is dishonesty. Do not. The rule is difficult to follow because it was made for that. To stop Petrobras. For her to become what she is today, causing this inconvenience to all of Brazil. So, from then on, I think there is a clear need for Congress to debate itself to see the possibility of changing some topics in the State-Owned Companies Law, including clearly dealing with the privatization of this company”, he continues.

State-owned companies law

In a letter sent to the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, and obtained exclusively by the anchor of CNN Brazil William Waack last Tuesday (4), Pires thanked him for the invitation and acknowledged the difficulty in reconciling the nomination with his professional performance.

“It became clear to me that I could not reconcile my work as a consultant with the presidency of Petrobras. I immediately started the procedures to leave the Brazilian Infrastructure Center (CBIE), a consultancy I founded more than 20 years ago and today I manage in partnership with my son. Throughout the process, however, I realized that unfortunately I am not able to do it in such a short time”, justifies Pires in the document.

For the president of the Chamber, the National Congress needs to look into the law that regulates state-owned companies. “Petrobras, in addition to being an SA [sociedade anônima], it cannot ignore that it is a mostly state-owned company. She is in the majority government. It is the majority shareholder. The government cannot be held responsible for everything she does wrong without explanation.”

Lira argues that putting a person who is not related to the oil and gas area at the head of the company “would be the only way for you to put it there to keep the status quo corporate interest in shielding Petrobras so that it remains this being that has no responsibility to Brazil or anyone else.”