Government wants to change command of Eletrobras – 05/05/2023 – Panel SA

President Lula sent word to the command of Eletrobras that the government, the company’s largest shareholder, will not sit down to negotiate the company’s new directions until there are replacements in the board of directors and in the executive board, including the president, Wilson Ferreira Junior .

Lula’s intention adds to the ongoing pressure from the AGU (Advocacy-General of the Union) which, as Panel SA reported, should join the STF in the coming days with a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality, questioning the privatization completed in June.

Interlocutors from Planalto conveyed to the executive the intention of exchanges so that the new government feels comfortable.

As the largest shareholder (35% of shares), the Union wants to have a more active voice. Today, it only votes with 10% of its participation, a rule that applies to all shareholders as a way of preventing the formation of blocks to take control of the company.

This obstacle arising from privatization —which will be questioned by the AGU, according to Planalto advisers— provides for capital spraying, professionalized command and disengagement of shareholders.

In addition, Lula wants to increase the number of seats on the council. Today there are 9 and he wants at least 11.

The exchanges, according to people participating in the discussions, are a peaceful point for the government to sit at the table in the new management.

The reason is political. Lula does not accept negotiating with names that, according to him, were directly involved in the privatization.

In the campaign, he condemned the process and promised, if elected, to try to reverse it if possible or to improve the government’s decision-making power in the company.

Wilson Ferreira, current president, was already president of Eletrobras in the Michel Temer administration, which kicked off the privatization studies.

The process was almost completed in his term, but Congress held back, leaving it to Jair Bolsonaro.

The Vice President of Regulation, Rodrigo Limp, is also a target. He worked first for Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) and then for the Ministry of Mines and Energy until he migrated to Eletrobras itself, replacing Wilson Ferreira Junior – who left the then state-owned company to take over BR Distribuidora (today Vibra). Wilson returned to the helm of the company after the privatization.

On the board of directors, Planalto appointed Marisete Pereira, former executive secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, one of the central characters in the elaboration of the privatization project.

Also mentioned is the former special adviser to Bolsonaro’s Ministry of Economy, Marcelo Siqueira, another architect of privatization, according to Planalto.

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