President Jair Bolsonaro returned to talk about fuel prices this Friday (13), during his participation in the opening of the 56th National Retail Trade Convention, in Campos do Jordão (SP). He said he hopes that, with the change in command of the Ministry of Mines and Energyit is possible to make the state company, which dominates the oil market in the country, fulfill its social function.
“I hope, in the coming days, with the changes I made in the Ministry of Mines and Energy, that we will be able to deal with Petrobras, make it comply with a constitutional provision, which speaks of the social purpose of the company”, said the president.
During his speech at the meeting of retail shopkeepers, Bolsonaro also criticized what he considers Petrobras’ excessive profit, compared to other companies in the sector. “We cannot have a company that has a profit above 30%, while in the largest oil companies in the world, the profit is at most 15%. And these other oil companies gave up profits to help their countries. Petrobras cannot continue to be indifferent to all this”.
Petrobras announced this week another readjustment, this time 8.87% on the price of diesel for distributors. In the last 12 months, the diesel readjustment reached 49%. Fuel is the main fuel used in public and freight transport and, therefore, has a direct impact on the general inflation of products.
The president says that there will be further price increases in the sector. “A few weeks ago, Russia closed gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. And now, it has just closed to Finland and Germany as well. This will impact new fuel prices.”
ICMS
At the beginning of his speech, the president celebrated decision of the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) André Mendonça, who suspended today (13) part of the resolution of the National Council for Finance Policy (Confaz) that deals with the collection of the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) on diesel. ICMS is a state tax.
Mendonça responded to the request made by the president, who, through the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), says that the measure is unconstitutional because it allows the differentiation of diesel rates between states, harming the consumer with excessive increases in fuel.
“There will be no more, I hope the plenary will ratify this, each state will have a percentage”, said Bolsonaro.
In March, a law passed by the National Congress and sanctioned by Bolsonaro established that there should be a single ICMS rate on diesel. After that, Confaz met and set a single ICMS value on diesel, of R$1.006 per liter, but with permission for discounts. The value, in practice, was higher than what was being charged at pumps before the new law, which contradicted the intention of the federal government.
