Brazil: Bolsonaro says he will “enter Petrobras” because the company has excessive profit

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On May 16, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he would “enter Petrobras” because the oil company, in his opinion, has excessive profit. Without further detail about the measures he intends to adopt, Bolsonaro said he does not know whose interests the state-owned company serves.

In a conversation with supporters, the president also praised the decision of Minister André Mendonça of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which prevents the collection of different ICMS rates on diesel in the states and the Federal District.

“We filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court, and we won because it fell with André Mendonça. We expect in the coming days a reduction in the ICMS, according to the provisions of the Constitution,” said Bolsonaro, extolling the injunction granted by the minister nominated by him to the STF.

Without clarifying what kind of measure he would adopt, the president amended: “For sure, we will enter Petrobras in these issues as well. An oil company can’t have 30% profit while the others have a maximum of 15% to meet the interests of I don’t know who.”

Last week, a day after the resignation of Bento Albuquerque from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the president had signaled his intention to go to court against Petrobras to contain the rise in fuel prices. On May 15, Bolsonaro said that the new minister, Adolfo Sachsida, had a “carte blanche” to decide whether or not the president of Petrobras, José Mauro Coelho, would remain in office.

Bolsonaro criticized the company’s management in the government of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party – PT), his main opponent in the elections, and promised efforts to reverse the escalating fuel prices.

“There is more to happen in the petroleum issue; we know what is happening; I won’t go into details, but always doing something to look for alternatives,” said the president.

The National Committee of Finance Secretaries of the States and Federal District (Comsefaz) will appeal the injunction decision of Mendonça, which, in response to a request from the Bolsonaro government, resumed the validity of Complementary Law 192/2022, with balanced and proportional taxation of the tax throughout the country.

The law provides a single tax rate for all states, not in percentage, but in reais per liter, charged only at the production stage.

DIGITAL MILITIAS

In his speech to supporters, Bolsonaro also commented on the statement by Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the STF that “digital militias” act to destabilize and discredit democratic institutions. Moraes said that social media has given “voice to the imbeciles.”

“Votes are not merchandise; they are not something that sprouts in electronic ballot boxes. Votes are people, and you have to respect them,” Bolsonaro argued, saying that “authorities need to have humility and talk to the people,” he said.

With information from Valor Econômico