08/29/2024 – 13:10
Vibra Energia is putting resources into fighting crime in the fuel sector and estimates that ending irregularities in the segment would allow 13 billion liters per year to return to Brazil’s formal market, company executives said on Thursday, the 19th.
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The volume of fuel appropriated by the crime was calculated by Vibra — formerly BR Distribuidora and the largest distributor in Brazil — in conjunction with the consultancy McKinsey.
Considering Vibra’s market share alone, the company believes it could recover around 1.5 billion liters per year with an estimated reduction of approximately 40% in fraud.
“There are 13 billion liters of fuel that, if the sector is regularized, will return to the formal market,” said Vibra’s vice president of Legal, Compliance and Institutional Relations, Henry Hadid, during a meeting with investors to discuss the company’s strategies.
“There is a pool of liters that we can fight for and we will increasingly focus on this fight against the irregular market.”
Vibra’s president, Ernesto Pousada, highlighted that the company is working together with the Legal Fuel Institute (ICL), but that it has also created its own structure to combat irregularities, amid a significant increase in crime in the sector, which has affected companies.
Recently, the regulatory body ANP provisionally suspended the licenses of companies suspected of operating illegally and has increased the crackdown on irregularities, together with several authorities.
“The problem has changed in level… it is a problem for the country, you have governors, ministers talking about this issue. I think we definitely have a chance, perhaps the only one in our hands, to definitively reduce the problem of illegality in this country,” said Pousada.
The president highlighted that the company created specific areas in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro for this purpose, which are under the care of the vice president of Legal, Compliance and Institutional Relations, Henry Hadid.
Among the topics, Pousada stated that the areas also deal with issues related to the federal legislature. One of the priorities, according to him, is the single-phase ethanol, which could contribute to the reduction of illegalities.
In single-phase taxation, the tax is higher in production, for example, reducing the incidence of rates in subsequent stages of marketing.
The company believes that ethanol consumption will grow in the coming years, with the advancement of hybrid cars.
“I personally have been involved with the ICL much more than I have in perhaps the last 12, 18 months, so we have a definite agenda for moving that forward,” he said.
Data from ICL, based on studies commissioned by Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), indicate that tax losses in the fuel sector due to irregularities amount to 14 billion reais and operational losses total 10 billion reais, according to figures presented by Vibra.
Also present at the event, the president of ICL, Emerson Kapaz, highlighted that the government is realizing how the irregular fuel market has affected federal accounts.
“The government will solve the deficit much more quickly here than by fighting with Shein,” said Kapaz. “If you want to solve the deficit problem, come with us,” he said, citing the controversial so-called blouse tax, which taxes international purchases of up to $50.
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