Council Is Confident that Petrobras Can Withstand Leadership Change without Losing Strength

Bylaws change in 2018 obliges government to reimburse company for fuel losses

Rio de Janeiro

Thanks to a 2018 change in the company's bylaws, Petrobras will be shielded from government interference.

This reduced the initial resistance to the change in command of the state-owned company announced this Friday (21st) by President Jair Bolsonaro. He appointed General Joaquim Silva and Luna to run the company.

The bylaw change occurred during the Michel Temer government, with the objective of trying to avoid the repetition of the interferences carried out during the Dilma Rousseff government. Those changes generated a loss of almost R $ 90 billion to the company's refining area.

The main clause says that the company covers reimbursement from the government in case of losses with the granting of subsidies to fuel prices or with investments in the public interest.

That is, if the company is forced to sell gasoline cheaper than on the international market, the Union would have to cover the difference in revenue.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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