In the middle of the electoral race for the coming months, the Government of President Jair Bolsonaro continues to insist on the sale of three Petrobras refineries and extended the deadline for interested parties to send proposals, as a way of accelerating the privatization of the state-owned company.

This Wednesday's (27/07) scenario for the privatization project of the state-owned Petrobras is increasingly unstable and the Government of President Jair Bolsonaro continues to insist on the sale of three refineries from 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 handed over to the private sector as part of the privatization project of oil and natural gas company.

Three Petrobras refineries are still in the process of being sold and the Bolsonaro Government continues to seek to accelerate the privatization of the state-owned company in an electoral race 

With only almost two months to go before the elections and in the midst of a race for re-election, the government of President Jair Bolsonaro is continuing the Petrobras privatization project, insisting on the sale of three of the company's refineries to the private sector. This is yet another move by the State to ensure the dilution of the Union's share 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 more than 23% of country's refining capacity, which will be controlled by the private sector in the domestic market.

And, after the support of Minister Paulo Guedes, of the Economy, and his subordinates commanding the state-owned company, Petrobras resumed the sale of the refineries, following its plan to accelerate the process, since it extended the deadlines for the manifestation of those interested in the purchase. 

During the same day that the board of directors of the state-owned company approved the nomination of Caio Mario Paes de Andrade, a former adviser to Guedes, for the presidency of Petrobras, the company announced the resumption of the sale of refineries with the support of the Government.

In addition, the deadline for interested parties to manifest themselves, which previously would have been on the 15th of that month, was postponed to the 29th. Among the companies that monitor the process are the Brazilian companies Ultrapar and Raízen, the Swiss companies Vitol and Glencore, the Americans Valero and CVR Energy, and Chinese PetroChina and Sinopec, in addition to the Mubadala fund.

The process of selling the three refineries of the Brazilian state-owned company had already been agreed with the Government in 2019, but could not be 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, had been put up for sale. At the time, the Government sought to hand over 50% of the country's refining capacity to the private sector, as a way of making costs cheaper. fuel prices, but the initiative was not taken forward.

In addition, Petrobras even formalized the process of selling and granting the three refineries to the private sector in 2021, but ended up not succeeding with any of the structures. Now, the process is back in action and companies interested in buying the refineries move to show their interest in starting negotiations with the state-owned company and the Bolsonaro 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 the future of Petrobras and now the Government and the state-owned company are mobilizing to accelerate the process at all costs.