Lula wants to use Lava Jato’s leniency agreements to resume works

Members of the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) are talking to members of the Federal Audit Court (TCU) to make viable the idea that contractors that closed leniency agreements with Lava Jato carry out works for the federal government instead to pay fines for having participated in the corruption scheme. The expectation is that, instead of paying the fines, the companies will carry out works that are paralyzed in several states of the country.

The measure is seen inside the Planalto Palace as a way for Lula to make possible, in this first year of government, the resumption of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), one of the hallmarks of his two governments, and the Minha Casa Minha Vida housing program. This would add resources to the 2023 federal budget (approved by Congress in 2022), move the economy and create jobs. The idea is to resume unfinished works listed as priorities by the governors.

Condemned by Lava Jato, contractors such as UTC Engenharia, OAS, Odebrecth, Andrade Gutierrez and Camargo Côrrea closed leniency agreements, which together add up to more than R$ 8 billion. The amounts of the fines were divided into installments that can reach almost 30 years. Until mid-June last year, just over R$ 1.1 billion had already been paid by companies.

Now, members of the Lula government are drawing up strategies to make the new agreements with contractors feasible with the president of the TCU, Bruno Dantas, and bodies such as the Advocacy-General of the Union (AGU) and the Comptroller-General of the Union (CGU). One of the legal questions is about how companies could settle their debts through public works, since the leniency agreements provide for reimbursement to the coffers, mainly state-owned, in addition to the allocation of funds to the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and to the CGU itself.

Changes in agreements with contractors have precedents in state governments

There are precedents in at least two states for the use of leniency agreements by contractors involved in corruption cases to invest in works.

In 2019, the government of Paraná closed an agreement with the concessionaire Rodonorte for the company to invest R$ 715 million in works on Paraná’s highways. The company had been condemned within the scope of the Integration and Pilot operations, offshoots of Lava Jato that investigated corruption in toll contracts in Paraná.

Currently called RDN Participações Ltda, the former Rodonorte closed a second agreement at the end of last year in which it recognized a debt of over R$ 321 million with the state government. With this, the company will have carried out approximately R$ 1 billion in works on highways in Paraná as a form of reimbursement to the public coffers at the end of the agreement.

“With this agreement, we surpassed the R$ 1 billion debt mark recognized by the concessionaire and which is being duly reimbursed to the user, to the citizen of Paraná. This value includes works not carried out over the 24 years of the concession, the double lane step, depreciation, among other pending issues that we are resolving at once”, explained the general director of the Department of Highways of Paraná (DER -PR), Alexandre Castro Fernandes.

As in Paraná, in 2020 the Ecovias concessionaire entered into an agreement with the São Paulo State Public Ministry (MP-SP), in which it committed to investing BRL 650 million in works, toll reduction and return to public coffers. At the time, the company committed to investing BRL 450 million in improvements to the Anchieta Highway, which connects the capital of São Paulo to the coast of the state.

Rui Costa is chosen by Lula to facilitate work agreements with contractors

The Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, was chosen by Lula to make possible the return of the PAC later this year. The folder created the Special Secretariat for Articulation and Monitoring, responsible for advising on the monitoring of goals and objectives defined as priorities by the president.

At first, Costa has carried out a survey to unlock works in sectors such as transport, energy, logistics and social infrastructure. A TCU report delivered to the Lula government showed that Brazil has at least 8,600 public works stopped.

The list delivered to the Lula government includes construction works for schools, hospitals, bridges, squares, highways, bike paths, sports courts, public markets, shelters, popular housing, landfills, sanitation and urbanization systems, passenger terminals and several others. enterprises. Now, the Civil House is preparing a platform for mayors and governors to register all the works financed with federal resources that are stopped in their municipalities and states.

Lula intends to meet with the governors of the 26 states and the Federal District next Friday (27th) to discuss the issue. The expectation is that works that are more advanced will be prioritized in this first phase, that depend on fewer resources to complete and that have a greater social and economic impact.

Recently, in an interview with GloboNews, Rui Costa defended that the contractors convicted by Lava Jato pay their fines by completing the unfinished works. “With this we can accelerate [obras] without depending on the direct budget of the Union, because these are resources that are not included in the budget and that could be used quickly for these works, since they are carried out by the debtor companies themselves, as a result of leniency agreements”, said the minister.

THE People’s Gazette sought out senator-elect Sérgio Moro (União Brasil-PR), former Lava Jato judge, and federal deputy Deltan Dallagnol (Podemos-PR), former coordinator of the operation task force, to comment on the idea of ​​the Lula government and its possible impacts. Through their press offices, both informed that they did not have an agenda available to comment on the matter.