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BRASILIA – By six votes to four, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) published this Thursday, the refinery sale plan in charge of the Petrobras, without the need for authorization from the Congress. The decision represents a victory for the government and with the purpose of disinvesting in the state company, which intends to sell eight refineries, more than half of its refining park, which has 13 units.
The debate on refining units involves the negotiation of values between R $ 63.6 billion and R $ 83.6 billion, according to XP Investimentos accounts. Petrobras intends to sell the refineries of Landulfo Alves (BA), Presidente Getúlio Vargas (PR), Abreu e Lima (PE), Alberto Pasqualini (RS), Gabriel Passos (MG), Isaac Sabbá (AM), Lubnor (CE) and Unidad of Industrialization of Shale (PR).
The ministers analyzed the action as a precautionary measure, that is, the Court has yet to revert to the matter in the future. The plan of the state company was debated in the Supreme Court due to a provocation by the Legislative Power. In July, the Senate, House and Congress offices asked the STF to prevent the sale of refineries as planned by the oil company.
The parliamentarians claimed that, to sell these assets, Petrobras was circumventing an STF decision made last year. At that time, the Court prohibited the government from selling a ‘parent company’ without legislative authorization and without bidding, but authorized this process in the case of subsidiaries.
The claim is that the state company maneuvers the STF’s determination by transforming the refineries into subsidiaries and then selling them. For this reason, they asked the Court to explain that the “artificial creation” of subsidiaries, formed from the dissolution of the parent company with an interest in selling, should be prohibited.
A subsidiary company is a kind of subdivision of a company, charged with specific tasks in the same branch of activities as the parent company. Petrobras, for example, has subsidiaries like Transpetro.
By majority, the STF ministers assessed that the Court’s understanding was not violated and that the operations represent a divestment by the state company and not a fraud to transfer control of the shares to the private sector.
Upon request, the Mayor, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ), changed position and stopped participating in the process. According to Maia, the Chamber consulted the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) – with whom Petrobras signed a commitment to suspend fines in exchange for the commitment to sell refineries.
The ministers Luis Roberto Barroso, Alexandre de Moraes, Cármen Lúcia, Dias Toffoli, Gilmar Mendes and Luiz Fux voted in favor of Petrobras. Edson Fachin, Rosa Weber, Ricardo Lewandowski and Marco Aurélio Mello voted to suspend the sale.
First to vote to deny the congressional action, Minister Alexandre de Moraes explained that he did not see any deviation of purpose in the creation of subsidiaries for the sale of the refining units. “Petrobras does not intend to lose value on the stock market (with the sale), nor lose control of the stock, but it does intend to optimize its performance and ensure greater profitability for the company,” said Moraes.
In the same sense, Minister Luís Roberto Barroso affirmed that there is no fraud in the election of the state company, nor lack of respect for what the Supreme Court decided last year. The minister pointed out that it is necessary for a state company to require legislative authorization for each decision to sell assets. “There is no way to function as a private company if you have to follow these rites,” he said.
Plan to reduce debt
The sale of refineries can reach R $ 83 billion and shorten the path for the state company to have debt aligned with that of other oil companies, expanding investment capacity. At the same time, pay more generous dividends to its shareholders, both to the Union and to minority shareholders.
Petrobras’ gross debt in June was US $ 91.3 billion. It is 35% lower than in June 2014, when the company owed nearly $ 140 billion. The ratio between debt and Ebitda (cash generation), 2.34 times, remains above the industry average of 1.5 times. The objective of the state-owned company is to reduce the amount to US $ 60 billion in 2022. If it succeeds, it can pay dividends based on cash generation, which remained strong even with the oil shock, thanks to the profitability of the company. pre-salt layer and the recovery of the Chinese economy.
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