Transfer of dividends from Petrobras to the federal government grows almost 1000% in one year

Target of a debate on fuel price policy, Petrobras has registered a jump in profit and, consequently, in dividends paid to shareholders, especially the federal government, the majority partner.

Data transferred by the company to the CNN show that, between 2020 and last year, the transfer to the control group, formed by the Union and other federal entities, such as BNDES, jumped from R$ 2.5 billion to R$ 27.1 billion, an increase of almost 1,000 %. This year, the partial until July is R$ 32 billion.

With an eye on this money to try to defend the collection of the states, the National Committee of Secretaries of Finance (Comsefaz) took to the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, in a meeting this Monday (30), the proposal of a fund with dividends to contain increases in gasoline and diesel prices and lessen the impact on consumers.

The secretaries’ objective is to avoid the approval of the project that limits the ICMS on energy and fuel, which, according to the agency, could bring a loss of up to R$ 83 billion to the states.

Comsefaz suggests that about 40% of dividends be deposited in a fund for use during periods of oil price volatility, as is currently the case due to the war between Ukraine and Russia.

The committee’s chairman, Décio Padilha, argues that it would be a way to reduce the value of fuels and their impacts on inflation, without interfering with Petrobras’ autonomy.

The Ministry of Economy, in a note, informed CNN that it will not comment on the proposal. It also disclosed that the funds have been used to amortize the federal public debt, based on Law 9,530/1997.

“The National Treasury revenue resulting from the payment of participations and dividends by the entities that are part of the indirect Federal Public Administration, including those related to accumulated profits in previous years, will be destined to the amortization of the federal public debt”, says the law.

While the debate on ICMS is raging, Petrobras is going through a troubled political period. The company awaits the names of the Ministry of Mines and Energy to compose the new management of the Board of Directors, since the federal government decided to make another change in the presidency, removing José Mauro Ferreira Coelho and appointing Caio Paes de Andrade.

The company’s pricing policy is the target of constant criticism from President Jair Bolsonaro. Last week, according to CNN analyst Caio Junqueira, Petrobras warned the government about the risk of being held legally responsible in the event of interference and prices misaligned with the market.

In the letter, the state-owned company also pointed out international experiences to mitigate the impact on prices, without interference in the state-owned company, such as income transfer programs and subsidies. Asked by CNN if it is studying any type of subsidy, the Ministry of Economy denied this Monday.

Evolution of dividends

According to data released by Petrobras, between 2015 and 2017, without recording profits, the company did not pay dividends to the Union. In 2018, BRL 1.2 billion was transferred to the federal government, an amount that rose to BRL 2.9 billion in 2019.

In early May, when it released the financial result for the first quarter of this year, with a record profit of R$ 44.5 billion, the company also released a note, saying that “Brazilian society is the main beneficiary of Petrobras’ results.”

The company published that the payment of dividends is mandatory in the event of a profit for publicly traded companies and that the shareholder remuneration policy seeks to align with other actors in the oil and natural gas sector.

He also highlighted that, between January and March of this year, he paid R$ 70 billion in taxes, royalties and government participation.

“For years, Petrobras failed to pay dividends to União and any shareholder and made investments that did not generate results, which led to the company’s high indebtedness, becoming the largest among companies in the world. Now we live in a new reality, with a focus on efficiency.

The resources generated by Petrobras are reversed in investments made with responsibility and that generate greater economic development and generation of jobs and income for Brazilians”, defended the current president of Petrobras, José Mauro Coelho, in a note released on May 5th.