Minister will appeal decision that removed “sponsored person” from Petrobras

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, stated this Friday (12), that the government will appeal the court decision that removed the president of the Petrobras Board of Directors, Pietro Adamo Sampaio Mendes. He was taken to the position by Silveira, according to information from the newspaper The globeand is Secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels at the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

“The court decision has been fulfilled. And it is appealed, as it is a first instance decision. The same decision was made in relation to another director in the past and this decision was reviewed by the court. And naturally, now the process will be led by the Federal Attorney General’s Office”, stated the minister during the Brazilian Energy Leaders Forum, in Rio.

In the decision, judge Paulo Cezar Neves Junior, from the 21st Federal Civil Court of São Paulo, pointed out an alleged “conflict of interest” to suspend Mendes. The injunction was granted by the judge in a lawsuit filed by state deputy Leonardo Siqueira (Novo-SP).

In the action, the deputy cited that Mendes’ nomination for the position was not on a triple list, as provided for in the State Law, in addition to having been sponsored by the minister.

This Friday (12), the minister argued that the advisor will return to his position, and said that there is still no other name for the role. According to Silveira, the secretary is not irreplaceable, but he has made a great contribution to the state-owned company and to the oil and gas sector.

“I wanted to highlight the technical, professional quality and decency of the president of the Petrobras Board. Brazil has already met this young, most experienced ANP career professional [Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis]during this 1 year he provided relevant service as president of the Council and in the government”, he stated.

The injunction is another episode in the crisis that has hit the company’s top brass in recent days. The president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, disagrees with Silveira and was allegedly the target of “frying” behind the scenes of the Lula government. The name of the president of BNDES, Aloizio Mercadante, would have been mentioned to take command of the oil company.