Justice removes chairman of Petrobras board – 04/11/2024 – Market

Judge Paulo Cezar Neves Junior, of the 21st Federal Civil Court of São Paulo, removed Pietro Mendes from the presidency of the board of directors of Petrobras this Thursday (11) due to a conflict of interest.

Mendes was appointed to the position by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, and is also national secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Fuels in the department.

“It is true that the position that the nominee currently occupies makes him a holder of strategic information and a proponent of public policies that have a direct relationship with the activities carried out by the company, attracting conflict of interests, since the acts carried out by the nominee within the scope of said body have the potential capacity to materially influence its decisions as president of the board of directors of Petrobras”, wrote the judge in the decision.

The order is issued amid disputes at Petrobras. The company has been in crisis since the board withheld extraordinary dividends, against the wishes of the state-owned company’s president, Jean Paul Prates, who defended the distribution of half of the resources to shareholders.

The position of Prates, who also has a position on the board, worsened the relationship with Silveira, precipitating news that the resignation of the Petrobras president was likely. This week, the pressure reduced and the state-owned company sees Prates remaining in the position.

The action against Pietro Mendes was proposed by state deputy Leonardo Siqueira (Novo-SP), who in October asked for the suspension of the state-owned company’s shareholders’ meeting due to indications that he considers political.

According to the parliamentarian, there is illegality in keeping Mendes as a Petrobras advisor due to the alleged lack of preparation of a triple list, non-use of a specialized company (headhunter) for selection and conflict of interests with the Union or with the state-owned company itself.

In a preliminary (provisional) decision, Neves Junior granted Siqueira’s request.

“Thus, I partially grant the request for early relief to suspend the co-defendant, Mr. Pietro Adamos Sampaio Mendes, from serving as advisor to the board of directors of Petrobras, as well as to determine the suspension of payment of the respective remuneration,” he wrote.

In a statement, Petrobras said that “it will seek to reform the aforementioned decision through the appropriate appeal, in order to defend the soundness of its internal governance procedures, as it has done in other ongoing actions in the same Court questioning nominations to the Board.”

“Facts considered relevant on the topic will be disclosed to the market in a timely manner, highlighting that the cases are monitored by internal bodies”, he stated.

When contacted, the Ministry of Mines and Energy did not respond until the publication of this text.

The friction between Prates and Silveira dates back to the beginning of the administration, when the minister won the first battle by appointing three allies to the board of directors.

The dispute gained traction at the beginning of the year, with Prates’ effort to remove from the presidency of the board the minister’s nominee still in the government, Jair Bolsonaro (PL) — whom the company’s leadership accuses of holding back relevant agendas.

Once again, the president of Petrobras lost the battle: the list of government nominees for renewal of the board, which will be evaluated at a meeting at the end of this month, features Mendes as a candidate for president.

On Monday (8), the São Paulo Court had already suspended another member of the Petrobras board, Sérgio Machado Rezende, for “alleged failure to comply with the requirements of the company’s bylaws in the appointment”, according to a company statement.

Mendes has a degree in chemistry and law and has 16 years of experience in the oil sector. He held positions at the MME and the ANP (National Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Agency) also during the Jair Bolsonaro government.

With Reuters