Brazilian President criticizes Eletrobras privatization and will ask for it to be reviewed

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized yesterday, Tuesday, the privatization process of the state-owned electric energy company Eletrobras in 2021, which he described as “erratic” and of “lèse patria” (a crime that compromises the external security of the State).

In a meeting with the alternative media, Lula announced that the Government, through the Federal Attorney General’s Office (AGU), will request a review of the terms and effects of the privatization of the company.

The privatization of Eletrobras was proposed by the administration of former President (2019-2022) Jair Bolsonaro through a provisional measure approved with Congress’s amendments in June 2021.

It became law in July of that year with presidential sanction.

The centerpiece of the privatization was the sale of shares in Eletrobras owned by the Government, reducing its stake from 60 to 45 percent of the company.

In Lula’s opinion, the conditions of the privatization of Eletrobras, the largest company in the sector in Latin America, are “unfair” because they prevent the AGU from regaining control of the company.

“It was almost like banditry, so the Government did not recover the majority in Eletrobras. We, including possibly, the Union’s general counsel, will go to court to review this leonine contract against the Government,” he said.

Lula also pointed out that, economic conditions permitting, the GovernGovernmentbuy more shares in the state-owned company.

“What I can say is that it was an erratic process, a leonine process against the interests of the Brazilian people, a privatization against the homeland,” he emphasized.

The privatization of Eletrobras was the largest privatization of a state-owned company during the four years of Bolsonaro’s government.

After thGovernmenttion, President Lula signed a document that pledged not to privatize large public companies, including the state-owned oil company Petrobras, the Bank of Brazil, Caixa Economica Federal, and the state-owned Post Office.

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