Meeting to define Ceitec’s new liquidator takes place this Wednesday

This Wednesday (8), at 3 pm, an extraordinary meeting will take place to define the future of the National Center for Advanced Electronic Technology (Ceitec). The current management, by liquidator Abílio Eustáquio de Andrade Neto, a reserve Navy officer, appointed by former President Jair Bolsonaro, ends on February 10.

Tomorrow, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to sign a decree constituting an inter-ministerial group (Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services and Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation ), to present a new management model for the company, along with a new plan for microelectronics and semiconductors for Brazil. The information was provided by state deputy Miguel Rossetto (PT).

On the agenda of tomorrow’s general meeting, the extension of the deadline for the conclusion of the liquidation, the election of the liquidator, the election of members of the Fiscal Council, and the determination of the remuneration of the liquidator and members of the Fiscal Council will be defined. If this did not happen, the company could run out of resources for its operation, which today is basically equipment maintenance.

Earlier this year, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that he would like to reverse the privatization of the public company. According to federal deputy Elvino Bohn Gass (PT), deputy leader of the government in the National Congress, it is time to think about restructuring. “We are running out of time. At first, the idea is to revoke the extinction decision and then think about how the restructuring will be”, he said. He admits, however, that, at the beginning of the transition, “some movements may follow the previous order, but that stops right there in front”, said Bohn Gass.

Ceitec has been in liquidation since 2020 and, according to the president of the Association of Employees and Former Employees of the company (Acceitec), Sílvio Júnior, where 188 people used to work, now there are 67. According to him, the association’s main expectation is that the state-owned company regains its leading role in the manufacture of censors, semiconductors and other technological components. “I hope that final activities will be resumed as soon as possible”, he pondered.

For that to happen, he reflects that it is necessary to resume hiring. “We are keeping the equipment connected to maintain the company’s assets, but we are not producing semiconductors. We are not going to produce chips like China, but we have the potential to produce censors for the automobile industry and for the health area with great quality”, he explained Junior.

Before the liquidation, Ceitec focused on the production of RFID products (toll, logistics and property tags, in addition to specific ones for identifying animals, such as the ox chip) and sensors were being developed for the health areas (detection of viral diseases and cancer), in addition to multi-test blood analysis platforms, with low consumption of inputs, ultra portable with fast network.

“The main thing right now is to have a company focused on the national development of high technology, both in hardware and software, knowing how to design and build its own technology. This is the path we want, so we can give answers to society in a way that understandable and retain qualified labor in Brazil”, concluded the president of Acceitec.

According to the deputy leader of the Lula government, Ceitec is a strategic company for development. “Microelectronics is in all economic activity and Ceitec is the only one in the country that dominates this technology. Countries that think about development invest to guarantee this equipment. And, yes, they use public resources for this. To have an idea of ​​the importance, just seeing that we are experiencing the so-called “semiconductor crisis”, that is, there was not enough production to meet the world demand. Giant industries such as the automobile industry, for example, were paralyzed”, reflects Bohn Gass.

State deputy Miguel Rossetto presented a proposal for the creation of a parliamentary front in defense of Ceitec to position Rio Grande do Sul in the production of semiconductors. “Ceitec is still necessary. Our degree of dependence on the digital industry is gigantic. This is like imagining Brazil without fuel, without energy.” He also highlights the high investment already made in the company. “We have a qualified team, the clean room (which is the company’s main asset) and which is the starting point for this new management standard”, said Rossetto.

On January 11, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luciana Santos, said in a meeting with the deputy governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Gabriel Souza (MDB), that the idea of ​​keeping the company public continues. The report contacted the Ministry, but the ministry’s advisory reported that there is no new information about the company’s situation.