The Minister of Management and Innovation in Public ServicesEsther Dweck, responded this Monday (15) to criticisms against the existence of state-owned companies and stated that, in some cases, privatization represents a worsening of services to the population. Dweck reinforced that the government hopes to soon approve a restructuring plan for Correios, a company in financial difficulty.
“State-owned companies are not a burden on Brazilian society. On the contrary, they are the heritage of the Brazilian people and an asset for sustainable development with economic, environmental and social responsibility.”
The statement was made by the minister during the event Democracy and Human Rights: Companies Together for a More Egalitarian Brazilheld at the headquarters of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), in Rio de Janeiro.
The minister considers that state-owned companies “have been attacked a lot in the recent period” and, when defending them, pointed out that they were “very important for building infrastructure”, in addition to integrating regions, generating jobs, sustaining strategic capacity, sovereignty, energy security, applied research and innovation, credit and long-term financing and essential services “where strictly private logic would never have reached”.
“Without them, many rights and services and opportunities simply would not exist,” he said.
Privatization
The minister criticized the idea that privatization is always a solution to problems and recalled the case of São Paulo, where Enel dealership has been blamed for the delay in restoring electricity after heavy rains and winds.
>>Learn more: Blackout: experts point out the failure of the privatization model
“Imagine in a middle and lower class neighborhood, people being without a refrigerator for two days, for example, everything they have. An extremely serious situation”, he highlighted.
The Minister of Management and Innovation in Public Services commented on the case of Correios, a company facing cash difficulties and negotiating with the government the receiving contributions and guarantee to obtain loans.
The minister pointed out that the state-owned company is going through a financial crisis because it is part of a “sector that is going through a problem all over the world”.
Dweck recalled that the company provides the service determined by the Constitution of universal postal service and that it needs to be in all Brazilian municipalities. “This, obviously, generates a cost for the company that it financed alone”.
The minister commented that in other countries the service has been associated with other activities as a means of maintaining itself, and informed that the government has been working for a year to rethink the company’s restructuring.
“We will soon approve a restructuring plan for the company so that it can rethink its operations”, he indicated.
The minister contextualized that the situation of the state-owned company was worsened by the fact that previous governments had placed it on a list of possible privatizations, inhibiting investments in restructuring.
Potential of state-owned companies
Minister Esther Dweck criticized assessments that consider this specific case to “try, in some way, to talk about the management of all companies”.
Dweck pointed out the investment power of state-owned companies, citing 23 that are part of Central Bank statistics. According to her, in 2.5 years of government, companies invested R$12.5 billion, a volume almost six times greater than the R$2.1 billion invested in the same period under the previous government.
The minister also criticized analysts who, in his view, confuse deficits with losses. Dweck explains that a company can make a profit and at the same time have a deficit. “Spending money that was available to invest, therefore, from a fiscal accounting point of view, it is a deficit.”
Companies pact
The event at BNDES was attended by representatives of public authorities, public and private companies and civil society organizations. CEO Andre Basbaum represented the Brazilian Communication Company (EBC), which is linked to Brazil Agency.
The Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship, Macaé Evaristo, said in her speech that a pact between companies and human rights is needed.
“We are not enemies of companies,” said Macaé.
“We want companies on our side as agents of transformation, helping us to create a better world. Choosing a pact for transformation, for life, for dignity and for democracy”, he added.
Macaé Evaristo says he wants private companies alongside the government – Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil
Private initiatives
The president of the board of directors of the Magazine Luiza retail chain, Luiza Helena Trajano, participated in the meeting via video call and presented the company’s initiatives in favor of diversity.
The executive highlighted the trainee program in 2020, aimed exclusively at black people.
“We felt that black people did not occupy high positions in the company, and we had to take action. For us, the trainee was the best thing that could be done”, he says.
The initiative attracted reactions and was challenged in court.
“We suffered a week of all possible criticism, but after a while we received awards from all over the world”, he recalls.
Criticism of the end of quotas
Mercadante criticized the movement to eliminate the quota policy in Santa Catarina- Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil
The president of BNDES, Aloizio Mercadante, took advantage of the meeting to repudiate the approval of a bill by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Santa Catarina (Alesc), last week, which prohibits quotas for black people in universities in the state, a decision that still needs state government sanction for real.
“I was very outraged by this decision. This type of setback is unacceptable,” declared Mercadante, who was Minister of Education when the Quota Law in federal universities was created in 2012.
He praised the fact that the last BNDES competition, held in 2024, had reserved 30% of vacancies for black people.
“What we need is to create opportunities. This is how we will combat inequality in this country and change history”, he emphasized.
As shown by Agency Brazila black architect was the first place overall in the competition.
