Lula summons Haddad to discuss Petrobras – 04/07/2024 – Market

Allies of President Lula (PT) say, with reservations, that the fate of the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, has already been sealed. For these interlocutors, Prates’ resignation is a matter of time, and should take place this week.

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, was summoned by Lula to a meeting on Sunday night (7) about the future of the company.

The agent’s assistants say that one cannot doubt the Treasury holder’s power to convince. Despite the considerations, the president’s collaborators minimize —although they do not completely rule out— the possibility of Lula’s deterrence.

There is an expectation that Haddad will intercede in favor of Prates’ maintenance due to fear of impact on the economy and also under the argument that there are no technical justifications for the dismissal of the Petrobras president, with the exception of his personality and his outbursts on social media.

Another argument in favor of Prates remaining would be that he was right in proposing the distribution of extraordinary dividends to the company’s shareholders, which could occur, at least partially, next month.

Despite these considerations, the president’s collaborators minimize the possibility of Lula’s deterrence.

The president would be unhappy with Prates, since the announcement of investments in wind energy in the country. In one of his publications, Prates also attributed to the government the decision not to distribute extra dividends to the company’s shareholders — a measure that caused losses to Petrobras.

According to the president’s collaborators, Prates should be replaced by the president of BNDES, Aloysio Mercadante, with whom Lula already spoke about the succession during one of his recent trips to Rio.

Mercadante himself informed Prates and members of the government that he had been contacted by Lula. But without him having been formally invited to the presidency of Petrobras.

Lula had also expressed to his allies his willingness to replace Prates and had been developing the idea since last month.

Among the president’s interlocutors, there are also those who argue that the dismissal should not occur in the midst of the frying of Prates, who is in a public clash with the ministers of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, and the Civil House, Rui Costa.

In the words of an influential PT leader, firing Prates in the heat of frying would mean “giving legitimacy to a harmful practice”.

It has been said, however, that it would be advisable to end the controversy now.

Rumors involving Prates’ dismissal gained strength after an interview with Sheet from the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, who admitted that there was a conflict between his role and that of the company’s president.

Silveira was questioned and avoided evaluating whether Prates was doing a good job. “I leave the evaluation of the management of the president of Petrobras to the president of the Republic,” he stated.

The president of Petrobras then requested an audience with Lula to talk about the bombings fired at him by people from his own government in recent days. The initiative was seen by Planalto’s assistants as an ultimatum and ended up being displeased.

Prates is not willing to hand over the position. In their defense, advisors highlight changes promoted by the executive in fuel price policy and dividend policy, which met the government’s wishes without major impacts on shares.

Now, after the latest crisis involving the resources owed to shareholders, Lula, who participated in the discussions at the time to retain them, must once again analyze a possible payment of the amounts.

The assessment at Petrobras is that the decline in the retention of dividends amid the fall in shares following rumors of Prates’ departure proves the thesis of the deliberate fabrication of a crisis.

According to this thesis, by defending the retention of the money, in March, the Ministries of Mines and Energy and the Civil House, under the command of Silveira and Rui Costa, obfuscated the release of Petrobras’ 2023 balance sheet, in which the company recorded the second biggest profit in its history.

In addition to trying to prevent the oil crisis from causing further political and economic damage to his management, Lula is considering a ministerial reform, which was not planned, to contain governance problems.

At the moment, the PT administration is trying to reverse the downward trend in Lula’s approval, which is looking for solutions to adjust criticized communication and has been putting pressure on ministers to deliver results.

Last week, the Sheet heard eight ministers and three secretaries, who reported fissures among government members in recent days.

The head of the Civil House, Rui Costa, is among the most criticized and was pointed out by colleagues on the ministerial team as the origin of leaks on the Esplanada. But the disagreements and disputes go further.

Asked to comment on government coordination, under the responsibility of the Civil House, a minister even stated, with reservations, that the report would be a blank sheet if this were the main topic. In his opinion, there is no such thing as government management.

The lack of contact between ministers and Lula increased complaints on the Esplanada, with several of them criticizing the fact that their proposals end up at the Palácio do Planalto, without it being possible to appeal to the president.