Petrobras proposes “dribble” in the State Law and shares fall 5%

Petrobras announced this Monday (23) that it intends to exclude from the company’s statutes the prohibitions set out in the State Law on the appointment of administrators. The company’s announcement has been seen as a “dribble” and caused shares to fall 5%.

According to Petrobras, the possible changes will be made because the recent injunction of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), presented by minister Ricardo Lewandowski, “supposedly” allows this step. The decision published in March this year, which awaits judgment in the STF plenary, allows politicians to assume management positions in state-owned companies, without complying with the quarantine required by the State-Owned Companies Law.

The trial on the State Law, which began in March this year, was suspended after minister André Mendonça presented a request for review. So far, there is no date for the return of the trial and without an official position from the STF, Petrobras is trying to circumvent the law to indicate “possible political sponsors” to the state-owned company’s administrative board.

Another announcement made by Petrobras was the creation of a capital remuneration reserve, which does not change the shareholder remuneration policy, as the effective constitution of the reserve would only be made at the end of the year, after the payment of dividends.

Petrobras’ announcement generated a series of criticisms among market experts and analysts. However, changes to the bylaws must be submitted to shareholders for approval at the Meeting.