During a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies This Tuesday (21), the Minister of Mines and Energy Adolfo Sachsida returned to defend the privatization of Petrobras. “Privatization has wonderful effects on competition when it is well designed. A privatization project that brings competition to the sector, that brings more players, more companies, will generate tremendous welfare gains for consumers and the Brazilian population. I believe that this is the long-term path that should be followed,” he defended.
Sachsida took a stand against the creation of a stabilization fund with Petrobras dividends to hold down fuel prices. One of the biggest enthusiasts of the proposal is the president of Congress, senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG).
In Sachsida’s view, the topic requires debate, but it could do more harm than good. “While the idea has merit, it seems to me that, at the moment, the risks outweigh the benefits,” she said. The minister added that with a stabilizing fund, the price mechanism no longer reflects the real scarcity of the product in the market, as well as it could affect demand and supply.
“A stabilization fund like this has some legal problems today. First, it would need to be outside the spending ceiling, and that would require a PEC [proposta de emenda à Constituição]. A PEC for this would raise doubts. You may have the impression of having one more PEC to take part of the expense from the spending ceiling. This can increase the country’s risk, it can generate exchange rate devaluation and increase the price of fuel, and it would need to increase the fund again”, he justified.
Another difficulty, according to the minister, is the fact that 2022 is an election year. “Legislation can prevent measures in this area,” he warned. Even with the criticism, if the proposal is approved by deputies and senators, Sachsida said he would support the measure.
Administrative Council
Adolfo Sachsida told the deputies that the new Petrobras Board of Directors, appointed by the federal government, will follow the law in relation to the definition of fuel pricing policies.
“The new Petrobras Board of Directors will follow the law, this is what we will always follow. Because there are legal regulations, and this government respects the law”, he guaranteed, reiterating that the government cannot intervene in the state-owned company.
According to Sachsida, the government does not work with price controls. “Freezing, with all due respect, is the idea of economists who belong to another strand of economic thinking,” she said.
Exchange
Faced with dissatisfaction with the state-owned company’s pricing policy, the federal government nominated eight names for the council, including a new executive president, Caio Paes de Andrade, to renew the collegiate. The change was made after, under pressure from President Jair Bolsonaro and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), José Mauro Ferreira Coelho resigned yesterday to the command of Petrobras, just over two months after taking over the state-owned company. The decision was made after the company announced, on Friday (19), a new readjustment of 14.26% in diesel and 5.18% in gasolineat the refinery.
