Seeking Quick Oil Extraction, Paulo Guedes Pushes for Petrobras Privatization: “It Will Be Worth Zero In 30 Years”

Government Studies Sending to Congress a Bill That Will Allow the Sale of Petrobras Shares

With the support of Paulo Guedes, the Minister of Economy, the federal government is studying a bill that would pave the way for the privatization of Petrobras. The intention of the  bill  is for the government to sell shares through a simple majority project in the Legislative. If this occurs, the entire corporate structure of Petrobras could be altered. 

• technical courses
• The railway Rumo has several job openings for the state of Goiás
• Petrobras starts selling onshore fields in Bahia
• 1,500 job openings available for positions as mechanics, electricians, bricklayers, drivers, and more in Rio Grande do Sul
• Labor shortage to fill the job openings for the construction of the world’s largest pulp mill by Suzano; accommodations are already being built to house workers from other regions

 “First, we need to advance with the Post Office. If we succeed as I hope, then I think it would be great to enter the priorities list,” said Fernando Bezerra Coelho, government leader in the Senate. 

Paulo Guedes Advocates for Privatization

After the information was released, Paulo Guedes rushed to defend the privatization of Petrobras, stating that it is necessary to extract the oil from underground to invest in essential projects, such as education, technologies, etc… 

“Petrobras will be worth zero in 30 years. And what did we do? We left the oil down there with a monopoly, a state monopoly sign on top. The goal is to extract this oil as quickly as possible and turn it into education, investment, training, technology,” said Paulo Guedes during the launch of the Green Growth Plan.  

How the Petrobras Privatization Plan Works 

The economic team’s idea is to send to the National Congress a bill that allows the government to negotiate Petrobras shares. The idea is for the state to lose control over the state-owned company.  

The bill that may be sent would maintain the federal government’s right to appoint who would be the president of Petrobras. In addition, the government would retain power over some actions taken by the state-owned company. It would be a kind of “golden share,” – privatization where the state would keep veto power over the company.  

The possibility of privatizing Petrobras began to gain traction due to the controversial “Auxílio Brasil,” where the government will allocate a minimum payment of R$ 400 to over 17 million Brazilians. 

To fund Auxílio Brasil, the federal government altered the spending cap, a situation that created significant discomfort in the market, where the dollar rose and the stock market fell during the last week. According to O Globo, the intention to privatize Petrobras would be a gesture to the market to try to improve the climate.