Rafael Dubeux must mediate tense relationship between Petrobras and MME – 03/12/2024 – Market

Future representative of the Ministry of Finance on the board of directors of Petrobras, Rafael Dubeux will assume the role with the task of trying to establish a point of balance in the tense relationship maintained between the directors of the state-owned company and the leadership of the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy).

His entry into the collegiate body, which is Petrobras’ highest decision-making body, should reduce the scope of influence of minister Alexandre Silveira (Mines and Energy) on the board, at the same time that it could help in dialogue with the company’s president, Jean Paul Prates, a constant target of friendly fire within the government.

Dubeux is deputy executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance and one of the main people responsible for the ecological transformation agenda, treated by Minister Fernando Haddad as “the apple of his eye” in his administration.

Although the secretary’s appointment is credited by Haddad’s assistants as a sign of priority for the green agenda, in a company whose main business today is the exploration of fossil fuels, the expectation is that his actions will go beyond representing a specific agenda.

Interlocutors from different areas of the government see Dubeux as a mediator in the midst of successive clashes between MME and Petrobras (or, more specifically, between Silveira and Prates). Others say he must be a kind of firefighter in conflagrated terrain.

The controversy surrounding the distribution of dividends is just the most recent episode in a list of friction between the two, which is no longer restricted to behind the scenes.

In November last year, amid the discussion of fuel prices, Prates said that the minister “creates a crisis where there is none”. Silveira reacted on the same day and stated that the president of Petrobras “has been timid in promoting the company’s social commitment.”

But the measurement of forces is not mere rhetoric. The Union’s seats on the council are mostly appointed by the MME, which is the state-owned company’s supervisory ministry. One of Silveira’s direct assistants, the Secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels, Pietro Mendes, is the president of the collegiate.

Silveira’s influence has practical effects, since the board has more power than the board appointed by Prates — which became even more evident given the victory on the dividend issue, despite the company president’s abstention.

The discomfort is so great that Prates has already tried to convince the Palácio do Planalto to change the nomination instead of returning Mendes to the post.

A government interlocutor assesses that Dubeux’s entry into the collegiate could help establish an “easier dialogue” between the council and Prates.

People close to the secretary or who have worked with him say that, although he is not a politician, his good performance as a negotiator gives him full conditions to establish this bridge.

According to reports, Haddad’s current secretary has a technical profile, solid training and assertive, but also cordial, performance. An interlocutor who knew Dubeux in previous administrations, when he held a position in the Civil House, states that he seeks solutions “not through force, but through persuasion”.

Another interlocutor cites as an example of willingness to dialogue the articulations involving the Paten bill (Energy Transition Acceleration Program), filed by deputy Arnaldo Jardim (Cidadania-SP) and being processed in the Chamber.

Technicians claim that Dubeux presented the Treasury’s considerations in a polite but firm manner, including the argument that some of the measures did not fit within the scope of the green transition.

Dubeux joined the current management of the Ministry of Finance as a special advisor to Haddad, dedicated to the energy transition agenda, and was promoted to deputy executive secretary in February this year, starting to have a more transversal role within the department.

According to reports, it was the current executive secretary, Dario Durigan, who first presented Dubeux’s name to Haddad, who then invited him to join the team as a special advisor.

Since then, the current deputy secretary has gained the trust of the minister, who sees him as a high-quality technician. Described as studious and detailed, he is the one behind the topics, data and information about the energy transition plan presented as a showcase to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and even other heads of state, such as the President of the United States , Joe Biden.

This is not the first time that the Treasury will have a representative on the Petrobras board of directors.

In the first term of Dilma Rousseff (PT), the then Minister of Finance, Guido Mantega, served as president of the collegiate, in an activity seen as having a more political character.

In 2016, the State-Owned Companies Law prohibited the appointment of State ministers to form the board of directors or board of directors of companies controlled by the government – ​​a restriction suspended by an injunction from the STF (Supreme Federal Court) in 2023.

Since then, the Treasury has been without a representative on the board for a few periods. The most recent nominee was Ricardo Soriano in 2022, when he was attorney general of the National Treasury.

Even though Dubeux’s appointment is now considered more technical, the entry of a Treasury representative into the collegiate also means greater influence for the department on topics of interest to it — which are not always convergent with those of the company.

In addition to distributing dividends, Petrobras is an important tax payer and has a large investment plan. The board also monitors the company’s pricing policy, which can affect inflation and, consequently, influence the direction of the economy’s basic interest rates.

Government technicians assess that it is important to have a representative of the Treasury on the board of Petrobras, not only for fiscal reasons, but for the vision of the company’s role in the Brazilian economy.

On the other hand, Dubeux’s appointment gives the department only one vote among the six government representatives, in a panel made up of 11 members.

Dubeux has a law degree from UFPE (Federal University of Pernambuco) and a master’s and doctorate in international relations from UnB (University of Brasília).

His thesis dealt with stimulating innovation in low-carbon energy in late industrializing countries. He was also a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

He has been a member of the Union’s legal profession since 2005 and has worked in different ministries, including the Civil House, where he was assistant to the Sub-Head for Legal Affairs.