Court removes president of the Petrobras Board of Directors from office

The Federal Court ordered this Thursday (11) the removal of the president of the Petrobras Board of Directors, Pietro Sampaio Mendes, from his position. Judge Paulo Cezar Neves Junior, from the 21st Federal Civil Court of São Paulo, pointed out an alleged “conflict of interest” to suspend Mendes. The injunction was granted by the judge in a lawsuit filed by state deputy Leonardo Siqueira (Novo-SP).

The parliamentarian alleged that he illegally holds his position on the state-owned company’s board. Mendes also serves as Secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels at the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The judge ordered the suspension of Mendes’ remuneration for holding his position on the board.

The deputy also mentioned in the action that Mendes’ appointment for the position was not on a triple list, as provided for in the State Law. The appointment to the council was sponsored by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira (PSD), reported the newspaper O Globo.

“In this case, the potential conflict of interests existing in the concomitant exercise of the positions of advisor (president) of the Board of Directors of Petrobras and secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels, of the Ministry of Mines and Energy of the current government, is total and not just episodic”, wrote the judge.

The injunction is another episode in the crisis that has hit the company’s top brass in recent days. The president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, disagrees with Silveira and was allegedly the target of “frying” behind the scenes of the Lula government. The name of the president of BNDES, Aloizio Mercadante, would have been mentioned to take command of the oil company.

Furthermore, the company is experiencing an impasse over the payment of extraordinary dividends to shareholders. Earlier this week, the same judge who removed Mendes suspended the mandate of counselor Sérgio Machado Rezende. In the decision, the judge considered that Rezende’s appointment was also not made through a triple list.

The judge pointed out that the counselor took up his role at the state-owned company on April 28, 2023, however he remained a member of the national directory of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) until March 6 of last year.

As a result, he did not comply with the 36-month quarantine period provided for by the company’s statutes. On the 25th, the state-owned company will hold the Ordinary General Meeting (AGO) to define the formation of the company’s leadership. Rezende was not nominated for a new term, while Mendes had his appointment renewed by the Union.