Among The Major Privatizations, Petrobras Is Completely Off The Table, But There Are 36 On The List For This Year
Brazil is pushing for major state-owned companies to privatize some subsidiaries, as the Brazilian government under new far-right President Jair Bolsonaro aims to raise US $ 20 billion from state asset sales in 2019. The state oil company Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) is expected to sell most of its 36 subsidiaries, said Brazilian privatization secretary Salim Mattar at an investment conference held on Tuesday in São Paulo.
Mattar said that Petrobras’ subsidiaries and the banks Banco do Brasil SA and Caixa Econômica Federal should be privatized, as the government wants state-owned companies to sell many of their units within four years.
-
In an isolated homestead in the mountains, a family builds a two-story tower with pallets, reclaimed wood, and scrap, transforming discarded materials into a functional off-grid home and proving that improvisation can also lead to surprising construction.
-
The government proposes a fee of R$ 625 for pet owners in 2026 in this region of Italy, but backtracks after a strong reaction and suspends the charge.
-
She left Sobral at 14 years old, studies up to 14 hours a day, and is now the only woman among 19 Brazilians selected for international Physics Olympiads. Meet Mabe, the 16-year-old from Ceará who didn’t need quotas to reach the top.
-
The notary office now authenticates ‘prints’ for a ‘cheap’ price with legal validity throughout Brazil; the new digital system validates WhatsApp, social media, and websites for just R$ 4, in a 100% online and certified process.
Brazil also plans to privatize Eletrobrás through additional stock sales in the market, said the privatization secretary.
At state-owned Petrobras, new CEO Roberto Castello Branco – who was appointed in November by Bolsonaro to lead the company and officially take the reins in early January – had already advocated for a total privatization of Petrobras.
Since he was chosen to lead the oil company, however, Castello Branco has dismissed a privatization of Petrobras, but still wants to sell non-essential assets of the company to reduce its massive net debt of US $ 72.888 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2018. Petrobras is the most indebted publicly listed oil company in the world.
“The privatization of the company is not on the table. I do not have a mandate to think about that,” said Castello Branco in November.
Still, the sale of non-essential assets is expected to continue under Castello Branco, whose strategic vision for Petrobras includes “portfolio management, reducing capital costs, and relentless pursuit of cost reduction.”
Between 2016 and the end of October 2018, Petrobras vsold assets worth US $ 20 billion, sources said in October that the Brazilian state company could divest another US $ 20 billion in assets by 2019.

Seja o primeiro a reagir!