Bolsonaro fires criticism at Petrobras and government authorizes the Ministry of Mines and Energy to alert service stations that do not follow the reduction in fuel prices approved by Congress

The president continues with acidic comments on Petrobras' announcement of an increase in fuel prices. The state-owned company claims that, contrary to what the government says, the readjustments were necessary

Last Saturday, March 12, the Government stated that it will ask the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, to warn fuel stations that remain with the price published by Petrobras. The stations must reduce the amounts charged at pumps after the change in taxes voted and approved by Congress.

Also read other news about the change in fuel prices:

• To reduce the price of gasoline, ethanol, diesel, gas and kerosene, federal deputies approve a project that fixes ICMS on fuels throughout the country;
• Petrobras' fuel price freeze and ICMS reduction are highlighted among the Federal Government's proposals to mitigate the effects of the rise in oil prices;
• To reduce the impact of fuel prices on their economies, Brazil and other countries are adopting measures to contain the value of a barrel of oil, which has risen from US$ 130.

According to the Metrópole portal and also published by the newspaper The Globe, the government regretted Petrobras' attitude of not waiting for the end of the vote in Congress, which took place on Thursday, the 10th, before establishing the fuel readjustments. Instead of waiting, Petrobras announced an increase of 18,8% in gasoline and 24,9% in diesel at refineries, in addition to 16,1% in liquefied petroleum gas. On Friday, the day following the announcement, the new price determination came into effect.

The president said that, if Petrobras had waited for the end of the voting, it could have disclosed an increase of R$ 0,30 in the liter of diesel, which corresponds to a third of what was actually announced by the state-owned company (R$ 0,90 ). According to the government, the stations will be notified about the need to reduce fuel prices for consumers.

“The order to lower R$ 0,60 did not arrive. It must be communicated. I'm going to get in touch with the Minister of Mines and Energy and see what has already been done to notify people that they have to drop R$ 0,60 in the price of diesel. It is equivalent to part of the ICMS tax and all the federal tax I paid”, he declared in the city of Luziânia, close to Brasília, in the state of Goiás.

Government Criticism of Petrobras

The president even gave Petrobras a more direct sting about the attitude, which he considered rash, of raising the price of fuel: “Petrobras demonstrates that it has no sensitivity towards the population, it is Petrobras Futebol Clube and the rest that explodes” . 

The state-owned company, in turn, defended its action: for it, the readjustments in fuel prices were necessary to mitigate “risks of shortages”. Petrobras also commented on the company's record profit reached last year, of R$ 106,6 billion: "It may seem very high, but it is not".

Watch the excerpt released on YouTube by the Foco do Brasil channel, in which President Bolsonaro congratulates the Senate for the reduction in fuel prices for consumers:

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