Jewelry: Ex-minister is influential in the energy sector – 03/13/2023 – Market

Squadron Admiral Bento Albuquerque, who brought the jewels from Saudi Arabia to then-president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), set up a wide network of influence in the energy area, which remains to this day.

Survey of Sheet identified that at least 25 appointed by the former minister and his allies, including Navy personnel and technicians, are in important positions in 11 organizations, including state, autarchy and even private companies.

Bento Albuquerque commanded the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) from January 2019 to May 2022. The increase in his influence in such a short time is attributed to changes in the way the previous government managed the energy area.

Differently from what happened in other mandates since redemocratization, Bolsonaro did not hand over the portfolio to a party and gave autonomy to the admiral. He nominated whoever he wanted and then asked the nominee to nominate another collaborator, extending connections, say people from Bolsonarista management.

Personal experience also contributed, say close people. Bento Albuquerque was a legislative advisor to the Navy, which helped him to develop relationships and political savvy.

The admiral fell after his nominee for president of Petrobras, José Mauro Ferreira Coelho, opposed Bolsonaro and announced a readjustment in fuel prices, followed by the disclosure of record profits. Given the environment, the perception is that he would withdraw. But the opposite happened. He began to be seen more frequently at industry meetings.

According to reports to the report by those who follow his trajectory, Bolsonaro sent the admiral to sacrifice to provide a political response. However, he always liked Bento Albuquerque, who reciprocated with constant deference.

So much so that he was retained as an adviser to Itaipu, despite the fact that the seat was disputed. Salary is R$ 37,000 per month. Indications of him, whether political or technical, have also been preserved.

Former federal deputy José Carlos Aleluia, whom he placed on the Itaipu council, remains in the post. Lawyer Mauro Henrique Moreira Sousa, who worked for the MME’s legal consultancy, took over as director general of ANM (National Mining Agency) in December last year, seven months after the admiral left, thanking him for his support.

He suggested Marisete Dadald, his executive secretary at the MME, to Eletrobras’ board of directors, and it remained so after his departure. The nomination of Agnes da Costa, head of the Special Advisory Board on Regulatory Affairs at the MME and president of Petrobras’ Fiscal Council, to be director of Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) remained intact. Both are recognized techniques that earned the trust of the former minister.

In the electoral campaign, Bento Albuquerque was quoted to return to the government. In case of re-election, he would take over ENBPar (Empresa Brasileira de Participações em Energia Nuclear e Binacional).

This new state-owned company, which he himself helped to create to replace the privatized Eletrobras, is the controller of Itaipu Binacional, in the electricity sector, and of state-owned companies in the nuclear area, a monopoly of the Union, Eletronuclear and INB (Nuclear Industries of Brazil).

The ENBPar is seen as an extension of the Navy and brings together trusted people from Bento Albuquerque. Among them was Rear Admiral José Roberto Bueno Junior, the protagonist of the first efforts to reverse the seizure of jewels by the Federal Revenue Service at Guarulhos airport, in São Paulo.

Bueno, Bento Albuquerque’s former chief of staff at the MME and also former deputy executive secretary of the portfolio, was sworn in as director of Corporate Management and Sustainability at ENBPar in November last year, when Bolsonaro had already lost the elections. He was exonerated by the new minister of the MME, Alexandre Silveira, on March 7, after his participation in the jewelry case became public.

Bueno’s assistant was Valeria de Souza, a former adviser to Bento Albuquerque at the MME and, according to officials, a constant presence on his trips abroad.

The president of ENBPar, vice-admiral Ney Zanella dos Santos, is also close to Bento Albuquerque. He was head of the Special Advisory Board on Strategic Management at the MME. With the support of the former minister, Zanella also became a member of the board of ENBPar and of the boards of directors of INB and Nuclep (Nuclebrás Equipamentos Pesados).

Zanella’s assistant at ENBPar is Commander Alexandre Calmon, who was Bento Albuquerque’s special advisor at the MME.

The perception that the ENBPar is a safe haven for Bento Albuquerque’s supporters in the Navy has recently been reinforced.

At the beginning of March, Alex Lôbo Carlos was integrated into the advisory of the presidency of ENBPar, leaving Itaipu, where he was advisor to the Brazilian general director, Vice-Admiral of the Navy Anatalicio Risden Junior. The change of position was interpreted in the energy sector as an attempt by Bento Albuquerque’s group to preserve cadres.

At the invitation of the former minister, Risden became financial director of Itaipu when the government began. In January 2022, with support from Bolsonaro, he took over the Brazilian command at Binacional. Among Itaipu employees, Risden and Rear Admiral Paulo Roberto da Silva Xavier, Administrative Director, form the front line of supporters of Bento.

People linked to Itaipu account for 11 Navy personnel linked to the former minister and his nominees in Itaipu.

Their report is that, after Lula’s victory, Risden sought rapprochement with PT members. A picturesque passage of this endeavor was the photo of his warm embrace in Jorge Samek, former general director of Itaipu under Lula and Dilma. They met at the Cascavel Rural Show. Risden insisted on capturing the image, which was published in the local press and shared on social media.

Energy sector executives are categorical in stating that Bento Albuquerque worked to expand the Navy’s space in the energy sector.

On the one hand, it preserved representatives who were already in government. Rear Admiral Carlos Henrique Silva Seixas, who Dilma placed at Nuclep in 2016, for example, remains in the post. The nuclear area has historically been supported by the Navy and has always been a priority for the former minister.

But Bento was active in paving the way on other fronts.

In the electric energy sector, he appointed engineer Luiz Carlos Ciocchi, a classmate at Colégio Naval, to be the general director of ONS (National Electric System Operator). This private body monitors the flow of energy in the national interconnected system.

In the area of ​​oil and gas, Rear Admiral Rodolfo Henrique de Saboia was selected to be director general of ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels).

He also acted on the advice of Fleet Admiral Eduardo Bacellar Leal Ferreira, who was commander of the Navy. Under the influence of Bento Albuquerque, he was chairman of the board of directors of Petrobras and is now vice-chairman of the board of Braskem, a petrochemical company controlled by the state-owned company in partnership with Novonor, the new name of the Odebrecht group.

Bento Albuquerque himself is an independent director of another company controlled by Novonor, the construction company OEC.

There are signs that dismantling this network, depending on rank and position, will require diplomacy from the Lula government.

As changes in Petrobras’ area of ​​influence were accelerated, its subsidiary Transpetro received a decision to dismiss Fleet Admiral Ilques Barbosa Junior, assistant to the presidency. Barbosa is a reference. He was commander of the Navy. He receives around R$50,000 at the state company and has some additional benefits, such as an armored car.

According to Sheet found out, the procedure was started in the morning, but in the afternoon came the counter-order from the Ministry of Defense to interrupt the process.

Before the jewelry scandal, the perception among executives in the energy sector is that Bento Albuquerque was already forming alliances in the Lula government. In less than a month of PT administration, Bento Albuquerque became recognized in the energy sector as an informal adviser to Silveira, the current head of the MME.

It is a consensus in the area that the admiral nominated engineer Bruno Eustáquio de Carvalho, his assistant executive secretary when minister, to be Silveira’s executive secretary.

The name was vetoed by PT members because Eustáquio had a position of trust in Bolsonarist management, but Silveira insists on keeping the nomination. Eustáquio was seen several times in the ministry building providing informal support. However, after almost three months of the new government, the MME continues without an executive secretary and, it is consensus in the sector, suffering from paralysis due to the lack of this vital manager.

Given the embarrassment with the jewelry affair, the future of Bento Albuquerque and his allies is now considered uncertain.

Job changes are gradual and in line with the Lula government, says MME

By means of a note to Sheetthe MME pointed out that job changes in state-owned companies in the sector, such as ENBPar, are in progress, gradually, and are carried out without interference from members of other mandates.

“The MME rejects the possibility of any kind of influence from previous administrations in the formulation of the teams that make up the portfolio”, states the text. “All the names questioned by the report are in the process of being replaced or have already been exonerated, including in the functions of ENBPar, ensuring the governance of companies.”

The note says that the changes in the positions of the second echelon of the MME and related companies seek the valuation, whenever possible, of career employees. He also states that the replacement process is similar to that observed throughout the Esplanada, in coordination with the Planalto Palace, ensuring the exchange of previous paintings for names aligned with Lula.

“The minister reaffirms that he does not accept any kind of influence or external pressure and that he acts with total loyalty, seriousness and commitment to achieve the results expected by Brazil in the Mines and Energy segments”, says the text.

The ONS press office highlighted that the entity represents more than 500 agents in the sector and that the MME, by law, can appoint three members of the board, including the general director. The current president was appointed by the portfolio in 2020 and approved in an assembly for a mandate that ends in May 2024. The same procedure validated Elisa Bastos Silva for the position of director of Corporate Affairs and Christiano Vieira da Silva for the position of director of Operation.

The Ministry of Defense denies that it interfered in the procedures for the dismissal of the former Navy commander at Transpetro.

ANP highlighted that nominations for the board are made by the President of the Republic and approved by the Senate after the Saturday.

In a note, Nuclep pointed out that the current president was maintained due to the good performance and rise of results in his management.

The advisors of Bento Albuquerque, Itaipu, Aneel, Eletrobras, Novonor and Braskem informed that they would not comment on the issue of positions.

ANM, INB and Transpetro did not return until the publication of this text.