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In Full Electoral Race For The Next Months, President Jair Bolsonaro’s Government Continues To Insist On The Sale Of Three Petrobras Refineries And Extended Deadline For Interested Parties To Submit Proposals As A Way To Speed Up Privatization Of The State-Owned Company.
The scenario this Wednesday (07/27) for the privatization project of the state-owned company Petrobras is increasingly unstable, and President Jair Bolsonaro’s Government continues to insist on the sale of three refineries of the company. They are Abreu e Lima (Rnest) in Pernambuco, Presidente Getúlio Vargas (Repar) in Paraná, and Alberto Pasqualini (Refap) in Rio Grande do Sul, which will be transferred to the private sector as part of the company’s privatization project.
Three Petrobras Refineries Are In The Sale Process And Bolsonaro Government Continues Searching To Speed Up The Privatization Of The State-Owned Company In Electoral Race
With just about two months left until the elections and amidst a race for reelection, President Jair Bolsonaro’s Government continues with the Petrobras privatization project by insisting on the sale of three of the company’s refineries to the private sector. This is another move by the State to ensure the dilution of the Union’s stake in the company’s shares, the largest in the oil and natural gas sector in Brazil.
The refineries in question are Abreu e Lima (Rnest) in Pernambuco, Presidente Getúlio Vargas (Repar) in Paraná, and Alberto Pasqualini (Refap) in Rio Grande do Sul, which together represent over 23% of the country’s refining capacity, to be controlled by the private sector in the national market.
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And, after the support of Minister Paulo Guedes from the Ministry of Economy and his subordinates managing the state-owned company, Petrobras resumed the sale of the refineries, following its plan to speed up the process, as it extended the deadlines for interested parties to express their intentions to buy.
On the same day that the company’s board of directors approved the appointment of Caio Mario Paes de Andrade, former advisor to Guedes, as president of Petrobras, the company announced the resumption of the sale of the refineries with the Government’s support.
In addition, the final deadline for interested parties to express their intentions, which was initially set for the 15th of this month, has been postponed to the 29th. Among the companies monitoring the process are Brazilian companies Ultrapar and Raízen, Swiss companies Vitol and Glencore, American companies Valero and CVR Energy, and Chinese companies PetroChina and Sinopec, in addition to the Mubadala fund.
Sale Process Of The Three Refineries Of The Brazilian State-Owned Company Had Already Been Agreed Upon With The Government In 2019, But Was Never Concluded
During the first months of the Bolsonaro Government, in April 2019, the refineries Abreu e Lima (Rnest) in Pernambuco, Presidente Getúlio Vargas (Repar) in Paraná, and Alberto Pasqualini (Refap) in Rio Grande do Sul were put up for sale. At the time, the Government sought to transfer 50% of the country’s refining capacity to the private sector to lower fuel prices, but the initiative was not carried forward.
Furthermore, Petrobras even formalized the process of selling and granting the three refineries to the private sector in 2021 but ultimately did not succeed with any of the structures. Now, the process is back in action, and interested companies are moving to express their interest in starting negotiations with the state-owned company and President Bolsonaro’s Government.
However, Agência Estado reported that these companies did not formalize proposals for any refinery within the deadline due to the proximity of the election and discussions about Petrobras’s future, and now the Government and the state-owned company are mobilizing to accelerate the process at all costs.
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