Board of Directors elects Paes de Andrade as CEO of Brazil’s Petrobras

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Paes de Andrade was elected as a board of directors member until the next general meeting when the entire board will be re-elected, and as president of Petrobras, with a term ending April 13, 2023.

Paes de Andrade was nominated by the government on May 23 and was waiting for Petrobras’ corporate governance analysis to allow the board to deliberate on his nomination. On Friday (June 24), he received the recommendation of the state-owned company’s Popular Committee.

The resignation of his predecessor, José Mauro Coelho, under pressure from the government of Jair Bolsonaro, shortened the procedures. In this case, the board of directors can temporarily elect a member of the college without needing a shareholders’ meeting.

Paes de Andrade was elected on Monday (27) following this procedure. Now he can calmly await the meeting in which the decision of the Board of Directors will be confirmed.

Paes de Andrade has a degree in social communication, a postgraduate degree in administration and management from Harvard University, and a master’s degree in administration from Duke University. The Department of Education has not validated the international degrees. The Secretary has no experience or training in the energy sector.

For this reason, board member Francisco Petros, who chaired Friday’s (24) personnel committee meeting, voted against the nomination.

“Although she has studied at prestigious North American universities, which is commendable, the combination of these undeniable merits with the relevant professional experience is, in my opinion, far below the requirements of Petrobras’ governance and management,” Petros said in his vote.

Petrobras employees’ representative on the Board of Directors, Rosangela Buzanelli, has also publicly opposed Paes de Andrade’s appointment. She reiterated to Poder360 that the curriculum violates the Corporate Law, the decree that regulates it, and Petrobras’ bylaws.

In addition to internal opposition, the appointment of the Secretary of the Ministry of Economy is being questioned by the FUP (Individual Federation of Oil Workers) and Anapetro (National Association of Petrobras Minority Shareholders).

On Monday (27), the minority shareholders filed a complaint with the CVM (Securities and Exchange Commission) to investigate the possible illegality of the nomination.

Paes de Andrade is the fourth president of Petrobras in the government of Jair Bolsonaro. His predecessors were fired after successive fuel price hikes. José Mauro Coelho, for example, was in office for one month and nine days. His resignation came three days after adjustments of 5.18% for gasoline and 14.26% for diesel.

However, speaking to the Petrobras People Committee, the new president of the state-owned company said he had not received any instructions to change fuel pricing policies.

“I have no specific or general instructions from the main shareholder or any other shareholder in changing the pricing policy practiced by the company,” he said in his written response to the committee’s questions. Paes de Andrade declined an invitation to a formal interview.

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