In victory for Lula government, Court overturns suspension of Petrobras advisor

Judge Marcelo Saraiva, from the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF3), overturned the injunction that suspended the mandate of Sérgio Machado Rezende from the Petrobras Board of Directors. Saraiva accepted an appeal presented by the Union. The new decision will still be analyzed by the Fourth Panel of the TRF3.

Rezende was removed on the 8th by order of judge Paulo Cezar Neves Junior, from the 21st Federal Civil Court of São Paulo. On that occasion, the judge responded to a request made by state deputy Leonardo Siqueira (Novo-SP). The parliamentarian argued that the counselor’s appointment did not respect the company’s bylaws, as Rezende was not mentioned in the triple list and did not complete a quarantine before taking office.

He assumed 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 established by statute. Sérgio Machado Rezende was Minister of Science and Technology during Lula’s previous administration, between 2005 and 2011.

“I understand that there was no non-compliance with Petrobras’ bylaws regarding the quarantine requirement, this is because, at the time of inauguration, the understanding of the Supreme Court prevailed which prohibited only the concomitance between the exercise as a Counselor and the participation in the party’s decision-making structure political, the prohibition relating to the 36 (thirty-six) months of non-compatibilization does not exist”, said the judge in the preliminary injunction.

On the 11th of this month, judge Paulo Cezar Neves Junior also removed the president of the oil company’s Board of Directors, Pietro Mendes, from his position due to an alleged “conflict of interest”. Mendes works as secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels at the Ministry of Mines and Energy. A day later, the AGU filed an appeal to try to reverse the suspension.