“You know the pressures you are suffering”, says Mourão about Bolsonaro in relation to Petrobras

The Vice President of the Republic, Hamilton Mourão (Republicans), said this Tuesday (24) that President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) feels pressured about the situation at Petrobras. On Monday night (23), the federal government announced another change in the presidency of the state-owned company. The nominee was Caio Mário Paes de Andrade, from the Special Secretary for Debureaucratisation, Management and Digital Government at the Ministry of Economy, where he is responsible for the gov.br platform. He replaces José Mauro Ferreira Coelho.

“The other time they had talked about Caio’s name, but he didn’t make it. Let’s see what will happen. This is a decision made by the president, he knows the pressures he is under. So, he follows the ball and waits for what Caio can do,” said the vice president.

Through a note, the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) justified the change in command of Petrobras citing the escalation in fuel prices.

“The various geopolitical factors known to all result in impacts not only on the price of gasoline and diesel, but on all energy components. Thus, in order to maintain the necessary conditions for the growth of employment and income for Brazilians, it is necessary to strengthen the investment capacity of the private sector as a whole. Working and contributing to a balanced scenario in the energy area is fundamental for the generation of value for the company, generating benefits for the whole society”, says the text.

Mourão praised the choice of the name of Paes de Andrade, who was president of Serpro (Federal Data Processing Service) until August 2020, but admitted that the new nominee may face difficulties ahead of the state-owned company.

“He has competence, but he will get into a situation that is not easy. Because the oil price problem is linked to the international situation, this fluctuation because of the Ukraine conflict, Russia’s exit from the market. Our internal problems related to not having refining capacity for everything we produce, we transport our fuel in trucks, there is no pipeline here because it could become cheaper. This problem is not so simple’, said Mourão.

Asked if the changes in presidents of Petrobras can be seen as Bolsonaro’s intervention in the state-owned company, the deputy said that the appointment is part of the attributions of the highest position in the Planalto.

“He has the prerogative to appoint the president of Petrobras. Of course, this will go through the shareholders’ council, the board of directors, but this is not from today to tomorrow. It takes about 40 days,” said the vice president.

Named

Paes de Andrade holds a degree in Social Communication from Universidade Paulista, a postgraduate degree in Administration and Management from Harvard University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Duke University.

“The nominee has all the qualifications to lead the company and overcome the challenges that the present situation imposes, increasing its reputational capital, promoting continuous administrative improvement and the company’s growing performance, without neglecting the responsibilities of governance, environment and, especially , Petrobras’ social network”, the MME said in a note.

(Posted by Carolina Farias)