Zema admits federalization of state-owned companies in Minas Gerais after meeting with Lula

The governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), met with President Lula (PT), accompanied by ministers Rui Costa and Fernando Haddad, on Wednesday (6) to discuss the payment of the state’s debt to the Union, estimated at R$160 billion.

Zema admitted the possibility of federalizing state-owned companies in Minas Gerais, including Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais (Cemig) and the Sanitation Company (Copasa), a solution for paying the debt that must be analyzed by Haddad’s economic team.

“The Ministry of Finance is the creditor, it will assess whether federalization is good for the federal government. I am in favor of any measure that will resolve Minas Gerais’ debt. If necessary, we move forward on this issue, the state will not oppose“, declared the governor in an interview with journalists after the meeting with Lula.

In December, the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Kássio Nunes Marques responded to the joint request of the Minas Gerais Legislative Assembly and the state government to extend the deadline for debt renegotiation by 120 days.

“The minister [Haddad] has already made it clear that he will, together with the government of Minas Gerais, request the extension of deadline at the STF, if you come to the conclusion that the date of April 20th is not enough. These changes may have to go through Congress and take longer. So all of this is very well aligned. It was a very productive conversation”, said Zema, who is awaiting the position on state-owned companies as part of the negotiation.

Last week, the states’ debt was discussed at a meeting between governors and finance secretaries at the 10th edition of the South and Southeast Integration Consortium (Cosud), in Porto Alegre (RS). The governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro (PL), criticized the interest charging by the Union and suggested the suspension of payments until renegotiation with the Lula government.

According to Zema, the federal government must present a proposal with changes to the states’ Fiscal Recovery Regime (RRF) by the end of March.

“Minister Haddad said that the National Treasury Secretariat will present a proposal to improve the current regime. This point, it is worth remembering, is extremely important not only for Minas Gerais, but also for the other states that have joined: Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul It is Goiás“, highlighted the Minas Gerais governor.

Minas Gerais’ debt with the Union has limited public investments in the state since 1998, when it was agreed for a value of R$14 billion. However, according to information from the Legislative Assembly, after the state paid billions in interest in recent decades, the debt reached the value of R$ 160 billiongrowth higher than the revenue of the Minas Gerais government.

The amount would have been accumulated during the suspension of payment allowed by preliminary decisions of the STF, which once again ordered the debt to be paid on December 20, 2023, before the new extension for negotiation with the federal government.