05/01/2024 – 21:23
Petrobras opened an administrative investigation to evaluate the sale of the Landulpho Alves Refinery, in November 2021, the state-owned company's president, Jean Paul Prates, reported this Friday (5). He reacted to the release of a report from the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) that pointed out privatization with low price.
“Regarding the news that has been published about the sale, by the previous government, of the Landulpho Alves Refinery (RLAM), and having been contacted by several media outlets, I inform you that this issue is under evaluation by Petrobras, in dialogue with the bodies of control”, posted Prates on the X network, formerly Twitter.
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According to Prates, the deal is being analyzed by Petrobras areas that analyze the company's governance and integrity. “The legitimacy of external control to supervise Petrobras’ activities is indisputable and necessary, forming part of the governance system that protects the company”, added the president of the state-owned company.
In the audit, the CGU criticized the timing chosen for the deal. According to the report, the privatization occurred in a “perfect storm” scenario, amid the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the weak growth forecast for the Brazilian economy at the time and the low price of oil on the international market at the end of 2021.
The report does not categorically state that there was an economic loss with the sale of the refinery. The document, however, questions the timing of the deal, arguing that Petrobras could have waited for oil to recover on the international market.
Federal police
Renamed Mataripe Refinery, the project was sold for US$ 1.65 billion (R$ 8.03 billion at current exchange rates) to the Mubadala Capital fund, an investment division of Mubadala Investment Company, an Abu Dhabi investment company that belongs to to the royal family of the United Arab Emirates.
The release of the report reignited suspicions surrounding gifts given by the United Arab Emirates government to former president Jair Bolsonaro in October 2019 and November 2021, precisely the month in which the refinery was sold. Two weapons, a rifle and a pistol were returned to Caixa Econômica Federal by order of the Federal Audit Court (TCU).
In addition to the returned gifts, the Federal Police are investigating jewelry and sculptures given by public authorities in the United Arab Emirates. On two official trips, one in October 2019 and another in November 2021, Bolsonaro received a table clock studded with diamonds, emeralds and rubies, a censer in gilded wood and three sculptures, one of which was decorated with details in gold, silver and diamonds.
The former president is also being investigated for three boxes of jewelry, valued at R$18 million, received from the Saudi Arabian government and returned in March and April of last year.
Other authorities
On Thursday (4), other authorities reported measures taken after the release of the CGU report. Through the social network On the same social network, the CGU minister, Vinicius Marques de Carvalho, reported that the Federal Police had received the results of the audit.
In March last year, when suspicions of a link between the sale of the refinery and the receipt of gifts from the United Arab Emirates began to circulate, former president Bolsonaro posted that the privatization was approved by the TCU. According to him, the court “monitored and approved the sale of the Bahia refinery to the Arabs”.
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