With many new mistakes being made, Lula’s government decided to repeat old mistakes in Petrobras’ management. Casuza would say that the changes to the statute have given Brazil’s largest state-owned company the appearance of a “museum of great news.” The Board of Shareholders approved, by a close vote, the deletion of the paragraph of the State-Owned Enterprises Law prohibiting political appointments to management positions in the company. The change puts Petrobras back on the counter.
The shield that prevented party leaders, unions, ministers and associates from infiltrating the state-owned company has disappeared. A window has also been opened to potentially appoint suppliers and buyers for the company. These changes were backed by a court order issued last March by then Federal Supreme Court Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, now retired. Lewandowski’s individual and temporary decision will be presented to the court next Wednesday. But Petrobras refused to wait.
Hours before the legal recast, which was implemented on Thursday, the Federal Court of Auditors published an injunction issued by Minister Jorge Oliveira preventing Petrobras from registering the setback with the Trade Council. The state-owned company was ordered to provide explanations to the TCU within 15 days. The state ownership law was approved in Congress by a large majority, following in the footsteps of the Petrobras scandal, which led to the plundering of Petrobras’ coffers. The bloodshed was acknowledged in confessions and on the balance sheet of the company, which managed to recover more than R$6 billion in illicit funds.
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