Banco do Brasil breaks sales record at Agrishow – 05/04/2023 – Market

Involved in an institutional crisis between the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Agrishow, the main agricultural fair in the country, Banco do Brasil broke sales record in this year’s edition, by financing more than R$ 2 billion in just four business days.

The information is contained in a response by BB to a question from the CVM (Securities and Exchange Commission) about the publication of news on the withdrawal of sponsorship for Agrishow (International Agricultural Technology Fair in Action) made by the Minister of the Social Communication Secretariat, Paulo Pimenta, last Friday (28).

“Banco do Brasil is present at the fair, acting commercially in carrying out business and serving its customers, presenting a successful performance, generating between the 1st and 4th more than R$ 2 billion in business volume, surpassing the initial expectation, which was BRL 1.5 billion”, says an excerpt from the statement, signed by the bank’s vice-president of financial management and investor relations, Marco Geovanne Tobias da Silva.

The document was a response to letter 134/2023, sent the day before, asking for clarification.

The tension between the government and the agricultural fair resulted from a conflict involving the organization of Agrishow and Minister Carlos Fávaro (Agriculture). On April 25, Fávaro said he felt “uninvited” after being informed by the president of the fair, Francisco Matturro, that former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) would participate in the opening ceremony.

Three days later, the federal government threatened to cancel Banco do Brasil’s sponsorship of the fair. The crisis made Agrishow announce, on Saturday night (29), that it would no longer hold the traditional opening ceremony, scheduled for last Monday (1st).

Agrishow will end this Friday (5th), and the expectations of exhibitors heard by the Sheet is that the mark of R$ 11.243 billion in business recorded in 2022 (R$ 11.77 billion, adjusted for inflation) will be surpassed.

With the cancellation, Bolsonaro participated in an event at the auditorium of the IAC (Agronomic Institute of Campinas), of the Government of São Paulo, commanded by his ally Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans). In it, the former president spoke to ruralists and criticized the Lula government, mainly in relation to the demarcation of indigenous lands.

In the same document to the CVM, the bank informed that the sponsorship of this year’s edition of Agrishow “was approved by the competent decision-making bodies in the governance of Banco do Brasil”. BB has been present at the fair since 1994, when the 1st Agrishow was held in Ribeirão Preto.

In the streets of Agrishow, small signs of Banco do Brasil are exposed, as well as a large panel at the entrance to the event, which informs both the bank and the federal government as sponsors of the agricultural fair.