Federal government suspends Ceitec liquidation process

The federal government decided to suspend the liquidation process of the National Center for Advanced Electronic Technology (Ceitec). In addition, the Union intends to invite the State government, through the State Secretariat for Innovation, Science and Technology, in addition to Rio Grande do Sul entities, to contribute to definitions on the reformulation and strengthening of the company. The decision was communicated by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luciana Santos, to the deputy governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Gabriel Souza, during a meeting last Wednesday (11), in Brasília. On Monday (16), in a social network, federal deputy Elvino Bohn Gass, deputy leader of the Lula government in the National Congress, informed that “it was decided: @LulaOficial will reverse the liquidation of Ceitec, the only semiconductor factory in America Latina, headquartered in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Bolsonaro was ending this essential and strategic public company”.

In a note, the State Secretariat for Innovation, Science and Technology (SICT) reported that “the reversal of Ceitec’s liquidation is being evaluated by the state government”. “As the semiconductor area is strategic for Rio Grande do Sul, there are discussions around the theme, but it is necessary to wait for the next steps on the part of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.” SICT was informed about the Union’s decision last week, when the director of Innovation Environments, Everaldo Daronco, traveled to Brasília with vice-governor Gabriel Souza and made the official invitation to the South Summit Brazil for the minister, at the headquarters of the ministry.

Created in November 2008, during the second government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the company was put into liquidation by the government of former President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, in December 2020. However, the process was interrupted by determination of the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) in September 2021. The reversal of the process was placed as one of the demands of the transition team of the Lula government for the area of ​​Science, Technology and Innovation. Ceitec is a public company linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) that operates in the semiconductor segment developing solutions for automatic identification (RFID and smartcards) and for specific applications. The company, located on Estrada João de Oliveira Remião, in the east zone of Porto Alegre, designs, manufactures and sells integrated circuits for different applications.

The president of the Association of Ceitec Collaborators (Acceitec), Sílvio Luís dos Reis Santos Júnior, pointed out that the reversal of the liquidation is a fight for the employees who still remain linked to the state-owned company. However, he points out that the category is concerned about the future of the company, so that it does not “fall into recurring problems from the past”. “Today there are 67 career employees, and the company is not in production. For the resumption, there is a need for investments in personnel, infrastructure and production equipment that are partially stopped due to the liquidation and the low investments received after 2014”, he pointed out.

Before the announcement of the liquidation by the Jair Bolsonaro government, there were 180 candidates in the company. According to the ministry, Ceitec’s technical staff is made up of masters, doctors and specialists. Investment in Ceitec amounted to more than R$ 800 million over the years, according to the federal government. The company earns around R$ 15 million, and has a budget of R$ 86 million per year.