The request was initiated by Senator Ciro Nogueira; steps will be taken at the state-owned company to clarify the strategy for retaining part of the proceeds
O TCU (Federal Audit Court) will investigate the Petrobras because of the decision to withhold part of the extraordinary dividends referring to the 2023 profit. The Minister of the Court of Auditors Jhonatan de Jesus accepted on Wednesday (May 8, 2024) the request for inspection made by the senator Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI) and ordered the carrying out of due diligence.
The Court will gather more information from the state-owned company, the Executive Secretariat of Ministry of Mines and Energy and the CVM (Securities Commission), to collect information to investigate the facts. Here’s the complete of the order (PDF – 122 kB).
UNDERSTAND THE CASE
On March 7, Petrobras’ Board of Directors approved the retention of the entire amount that could be distributed in the form of an extraordinary dividend. The proposal was to keep the R$43.9 billion in an account, called the statutory reserve. The government councilors voted for retention.
The idea, however, would still need to go through the general shareholders meeting on April 25, but it was reviewed in the meantime by the government itself.
The idea of retaining all the value led to a crisis which almost culminated in the dismissal of Jean Paul Prates of the oil company’s presidency. The negative reaction of the market and the pressure from the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddadfor the payment – which also benefits the government’s cash flow – caused a setback.
At the April meeting, the distribution of almost R$22 billion in extraordinary dividends was approved. The amount is equivalent to half of the total that could be paid. The other half, however, remains held in an account for future distribution.
According to Petrobras’ statute, the money that goes to the statutory reserve can only be used to pay dividends and does not affect the company’s cash flow. Haddad hopes to be able to release the other half of the dividends in 2024.
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