Should Petrobras be managed as a private or state company?

The crisis in the federal government, which began with a back-and-forth between the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, and the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, worsened over the last week, culminating in the imminent departure of the executive ahead of the state-owned company.

Names to replace Prates would already be in the works. Among them are Aloizio Mercadante, president of BNDES; Magda Chambriard, former director general of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP); Clarice Copetti, director of corporate affairs at Petrobras; and Bruno Moretti, government analysis secretary at the Civil House.

Even with the long-standing feud between two names from key areas of government, the controversial and public way in which the change of command of the country’s largest state-owned company is being conducted worries the market and raises the debate again: should Petrobras be managed as state or company?

The current photograph shows that it does not fit into any of them. The government calls the shots, decides the distribution of dividends and who is in charge of the company. On the other hand, President Lula has so far not taken a position on the fight between the minister and the executive, nor on the leak of information about Prates’ departure, which is extremely relevant for the national and international market, considering that it is also of a company, with businesses, partners and shareholders.

The conduct even deters and delays investments due to the uncertainty of what the company will be like in a month’s time. “This feeling of instability is very bad. The international market provides insurance for your investments here. Domestically (Brazil) the confusion is greater, as it contaminates not only the oil (market): people take money out of the stock market, this reflects on inflation”, assesses Armando Cavanha, consultant in the area of ​​oil and gas and professor at PUC- River.

The expert argues that the company should be managed more independently, looking at performance metrics and not as a political institution.

It is the same line as the former president of the Central Bank and former Minister of Finance, Henrique Meirelles. He told journalists in São Paulo, during an event this Friday (5), that Petrobras should be managed like a company, as the government is not the only shareholder, Valor reported.

The director and founder of the Brazilian Infrastructure Center (CBIE), Adriano Pires, criticizes the company’s mixed economy position and argues that it should get off the fence, deciding on privatization or nationalization. He points out, however, that the last option, where there is political intervention, is a mistake.

“These are not new mistakes, they are the usual mistakes: changing the president of the company due to political fights within the government, using the company to finance sectors such as the shipping industry and wanting to carry out social policy by subsidizing the price of fuel. It is surreal to see statements that Petrobras should not be concerned with profit but with its social commitment. Petrobras pursues social policy when it pays royalties and taxes”, wrote the analyst in his column in O Estado de S. Paulo.

Alternative solution foresees Mercadante as chairman of the Petrobras board

The conflict between Prates and Silveira reached such proportions that the Petrobras executive himself requested a meeting with President Lula to define his situation and names would not only have been considered, but also sounded out to replace them. One of them is Aloizio Mercadante, current president of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).

To avoid noise, Mercadante would have sought out Prates to warn about the probe and clarify that he was not behind any operation, according to columnist Valdo Cruz, from G1.

An alternative solution found on Friday night to keep Prates as CEO, who is seen operationally as a good manager in the market and to avoid drastic changes, would be to place Mercadante as president of the Board of Directors.

The president of BNDES would replace Pietro Mendes, who is Silveira’s right-hand man. In this way, Prates would continue to lead the company taking care of the day to day activities and Mercadante would be the interlocutor with Lula. The decision goes to Lula.

Prates and Silveira, who have been exchanging barbs and publicly sharing differences since the beginning of the government, would have committed to a “cease fire”, which did not happen in the interview the minister gave last week to Folha de São Paulo.

Silveira acknowledged the heated debates, said that Petrobras’ management must be respected, but avoided being asked about the assessment of Petrobras’ command: “I leave it to the President of the Republic”.

According to columnist Lauro Jardim, from O Globo, Prates asked, last Wednesday, for an audience with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). So far, it has not been answered. On Friday, the president of Petrobras did not participate in the company’s Board of Directors meeting.

Lula is expected to talk about the matter with the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, this Monday at 6 pm. The meeting was originally scheduled for Sunday, but ended up being canceled by the president. According to O Estado de S. Paulo, the Finance Minister has been trying to stay away from the political duel between Silveira and Prates.

Experts point out that the event would be a strategy to distract attention from real energy problems. While the fight unfolds at the top of the government and the president remains silent, other events lose the spotlight, such as the distribution of extraordinary dividends from Petrobras and the Enel scandal. The company is under investigation for successive blackouts and could lose its concession.