President said that past governments made the country go backwards and cites divestment in strategic areas as “devastation”
The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) stated this Thursday (18.jan.2024) that the privatization of Eletrobras was a “mockery“. In a speech at the ceremony to create the Bahia Aerospace Technological Park, in Salvador, Lula said that the country had been devastated in recent years and that it could already be consolidated as the 5th largest economy in the world.
According to the president, the privatization actions of state-owned companies in strategic sectors were a delay for the country. Lula also criticized the lack of investment in Petrobras refineries and the sale of the oil company's assets. This Thursday (January 18), Lula will also participate in the ceremony to resume the expansion works at Rnest (Abreu e Lima Refinery), in Pernambuco.
“There are many people in this country who insist on going backwards. What did they do with our Petrobras? People don't like to talk about the privatization of Eletrobras, but what was done in this country was a mockery. A strategic sector, which is the energy sector”said Lula.
Eletrobras was privatized in June 2022, under the management of the former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
This is not the first time that Lula has criticized the company's privatization. In May, the AGU (Attorney General of the Union) filed a lawsuit in STF (Supreme Federal Court) to question the limit of up to 10% of the Union's voting rights in Eletrobras.
Days later, Lula stated that the government “you’re going to fight a lot” to regain voting rights in the company. On the occasion, the president also said that his government will not privatize any more strategic assets such as subsidiaries of Petrobras and Correios.
In December 2023, minister Nunes Marques determined that the government's action to review the section of the law that allowed the privatization of Eletrobras be forwarded to the CCAF (Chamber of Conciliation and Arbitration of the Federal Administration) for a “attempt to reach an amicable solution between the parties”.
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