Petrobras has support from Odebrecht to sell Braskem

The president of Petrobras, Roberto Castello Branco, affirmed yesterday (06) the agreement of Odebrecht, its partner, in transforming Braskem into a corporation. Odebrecht – on April 22, the group approved the restructuring of 53 billion reais in debt as part of its judicial reorganization plan, thus making Braskem the company's main source of income.

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The executive said that the market moment calls for patience, but that Petrobras remains interested in selling its stake in Braskem on the stock exchange and is monitoring opportunities for a new offer of BR Distribuidora shares.

According to Castello Branco, the company's goal continues to be to move forward with the refinery negotiations and sign the contracts for the sale of assets later this year.

He points out that “several obstacles have already been overcome” in the sale of Braskem, such as the agreement signed by the petrochemical company to pay indemnities and reallocate employees.

The idea of ​​Petrobras and Odebrecht is to list Braskem on B3's Novo Mercado, in an attempt to increase the value of the petrochemical company for a future sale of shares in the company. “But we have to be patient”, said Castello Branco, referring to the high volatility of the stock exchange and the bad moment of the global economy.

About the interest in a new offering of the shares of BR, where Petrobras still owns 37,5%, the executive said that this “is a possibility, but it has to wait a little”.

According to Castello Branco, the company maintains the forecast of signing the sales contracts for its refineries by the end of the year and concluding the business in 2021. “That still stands. We have not received a negative sign of withdrawal from anyone [by the refineries]”.

For him it is natural that, in the midst of the crisis, Petrobras' divestment plan suffers delays, but that the interest in the company's assets remains.

“We have seen renewed interest shown by buyers. We will hardly close any transactions in the next two months, but we hope that, by the end of the year, some assets that have already received proposals will be sold, "he said.

Castello Branco also claims that Petrobras has “no intention” of selling pre-salt assets.

"We are ready. If we find it necessary, we will do it”, he said, citing that, amid the devaluation of oil in the international market, the company has already reduced gasoline prices at refineries this year by 52%. In the case of diesel, the accumulated drop is 48%. “We have shown that the rule also applies downwards”, said the president of Petrobras, regarding the recent drop in fuel prices.