Petrobras’ Board of Directors met this Wednesday afternoon (8) to discuss the company’s strategic planning, a technical discussion already planned.
At the end of the meeting, however, the federal government’s nominees began to debate another scenario: the internal approval of Caio Mario Paes de Andrade without the General Shareholders’ Meeting or, even, the list with all the government’s nominees for the collegiate .
The discussion started because next week the Petrobras People Committee should receive the final result of the internal evaluation process by Caio Mario Paes de Andrade. THE CNN found that most of the documents have already been submitted and the background analysis should be ready next week.
The Council’s initial reading, when Paes de Andrade’s nomination to replace the current president, José Mauro Coelho, was announced, was that the People Committee could only analyze the names when all the candidates for the collegiate were nominated. As the government has not yet sent the list with the eight names, the councilors discussed the anticipation of Paes de Andrade’s analysis separately.
“As soon as everything is ready, his name will go to the COP (people’s committee). My concern is with the normal and legal procedures that we are obliged to follow, you know? So what we discussed today was strictly around that,” he told the CNN the chairman of the Petrobras Board of Directors, Márcio Weber.
“We have already received the letter some time ago, we have already replied saying that for the convening of the meeting we needed the list, without any problem, but the analysis of the name of Caio, who was indicated, it follows, is following the legal procedures . There is nothing that will prevent it from being approved or not”, he added.
To lead Caio Mario Paes de Andrade to the presidency without an assembly, however, one of the directors would have to resign. This is because when there is a vacant seat, the other ten councilors can elect a provisional replacement that would be ratified at the next meeting.
To interlocutors, José Mauro Coelho has been indicating that he will not leave the post before the protocol replacement. Weber told CNN who discussed a possible resignation with him.
“I asked him, I simply asked him. I didn’t raise anything regarding the possibility of this doing more or less, you know? I simply asked him what his thoughts were to continue or not to continue. I as chairman of the board wanted to know what the chairman’s position was,” Weber said.
Without the internal maneuvering in the Council, it would be necessary to wait for the legal step by step that begins with the sending of the government list and the indications of the minority shareholders, goes through the background check of everyone for, only then, the assembly is convened.
There is still a legal minimum of 30 days between convening and holding. In other words, in normal procedures, Caio Mario Paes de Andrade would hardly become president of the state-owned company before the second half of July. Questioned by CNN current president José Mauro Coelho said he would not comment on the matter.
Weber and four other members of the council appointed by the federal government were in Brasilia last week to visit the newly sworn in minister, Adolfo Sachsida, of Mines and Energy. Among the subjects, they discussed international fuel price parity. The minister did not indicate, however, whether any of them would continue on the collegiate with the government’s approval.
THE CNN one of these nominees stated that everything indicates that he will not be on the list. Four members of the collegiate said they were ‘in the dark’ about the Union’s plans.
the day of dismissal
It was the night of May 23, a Monday, when the cell phone of José Mauro Coelho, president of Petrobras, rang. On the other side of the line, Adolfo Sachsida, Minister of Mines and Energy, warned: the command of the state-owned company will be changed.
About thirty minutes later, a letter was forwarded by the minister’s chief of staff to the chairman of the state-owned company’s board. The letter asked for the convening of the Extraordinary General Meeting to replace Coelho with Caio Mario Paes de Andrade. But since then, the process has not progressed further.
The exchange stalled in sending a list of candidates to fill government vacancies on Petrobras’ Board of Directors. In a meeting held by the council itself, it was decided that the assembly would only be convened when the government officially forwarded the names to Petrobras.
The problem is that the list has not yet been closed, signed and addressed to the state-owned company. THE CNN found out that Caio Mario Paes de Andrade himself is articulating names to compose the future council that should make him president. Currently, the board has seven names nominated by the federal government and another five members, of which three will retain their seats after the board is reformed and two others – shareholder representatives – will be put to the vote again.
Source: CNN Brasil
