Minister André Mendonça, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), granted an additional 30 days for the federal government, private companies and the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) to finalize the renegotiation of the terms of the leniency agreements for Operation Lava Jato.
Mendonça responded to requests from the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) and companies, some in judicial recovery, who claimed they needed more time to establish payment schedules and draft the terms of the new agreement, given the high complexity of the negotiations.
Brasília – Facade of the Attorney General’s Office. Photo: Rafa Neddermeyer/Agência Brasil
The same argument – the need to establish a new payment schedule – had already been used previously by the parties involved, in a previous request for more time. This time, the AGU added that a strike by employees of the Office of the Attorney General of the Union had hindered the work.
In February of this year, Mendonça gave a 60-day deadline for public bodies and interested companies to renegotiate the terms of the leniency agreements. In July, he had already extended this deadline by 30 days, a measure he is now repeating.
“Within the time frame now granted, the Comptroller General of the Union, the Attorney General’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office must attach to the records the renegotiation instruments or, in case of failure, the respective information and justifications”, wrote Mendonça in the most recent decision, signed this Wednesday (21).
At the end of the new 30-day period, Mendonça ordered that the case files be returned to his office, “with or without a response” from the competent bodies. Until then, the companies’ obligations under the previous leniency agreement remain suspended.
In his request for more time last week, the Attorney General of the Union, Jorge Messias, said that there will be no new request for an extension of the deadline. “On the part of the Union, this is the last request. There will be no more extension. Whoever signs the agreement with us, we will forward it to the Supreme Court. Whoever does not sign, unfortunately, we will consider the negotiations concluded,” he said.
Minister Jorge Messias, from the Attorney General’s Office – AGU. Photo: Juca Varella/Agência Brasil
Understand
Under leniency agreements, companies agree to reimburse the public treasury and cooperate with investigations. In exchange, they can continue to sign contracts with the public administration.
Several companies in the oil, gas, technology and construction sectors signed leniency agreements with the government during the height of the Lava Jato investigations. Years later, however, some of these companies claimed they were unable to honor the payments. Some of them are currently undergoing judicial recovery.
As the rapporteur on the matter at the Supreme Court, Mendonça granted the requests for the agreements to be renegotiated. The minister made the decision after the PSOL, PCdoB and Solidariedade parties filed a lawsuit for non-compliance with a fundamental precept at the Supreme Court, ADPF 1051, alleging illegalities in the previous negotiations.
The new clauses proposed by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) and the AGU must take into account the companies’ ability to pay. The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) is also participating in the renegotiations, through the Office of the Attorney General (PGR), and must agree to the new terms.
In addition to several smaller companies, at least six large construction companies are participating in the renegotiations – Nova Engevix, UTC, Andrade Gutierrez, Novonor (formerly Odebrecht), Camargo Correa and Metha/Coesa (formerly OAS). According to the AGU report, the companies have already “accepted the final offer”.
Under the proposal already in progress, companies may be exempt from late payment fines on overdue installments, have exemption from late payment interest on the outstanding balance until May 31 of this year and use tax loss credits to pay off the debt.
Discounts cannot exceed 50% of the outstanding balance. The updated value of the companies’ debt to the government is R$11.8 billion, according to calculations by the CGU.
