Romeu Zema, the former governor of Minas Gerais and a presidential pre-candidate for Novo, said Tuesday that he would seek to privatize Petrobras if elected president of Brazil.
Based on single-source reporting from CNN Brasil, Zema said the federal government could remain a shareholder in Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, but should no longer control company decisions.
The Petrobras Proposal
Asked by journalists whether his plan would involve selling federal shares in Petrobras, Zema said yes. He added that the Union could keep a minority stake, as long as it had no power to direct the company.
“Or the Union could even remain a partner, but without deciding, without doing politicking inside the company. It can receive dividends, turn Petrobras into a corporation,” Zema said, according to CNN Brasil.
Zema argued that the change would benefit Brazilians by reducing political influence over the company. He said that, in his view, Brazil’s current model allows political interference in state-owned firms.
“The Union, Brazilians, will only gain. The ones who will lose are the politicking that prevails in Brazil today,” he said. “What we are seeing are all these scandals, corruption, politicians getting richer and Brazilians getting poorer.”
A Wider Privatization Agenda
Zema also defended privatizing other state-owned companies. According to CNN Brasil, Brazil’s federal government currently has holdings in 44 public companies and mixed-capital firms, ranging from entities wholly owned by the Union to companies such as Petrobras, where ownership is split between public and private shareholders.
The proposal places Petrobras, one of Brazil’s most politically sensitive companies, near the center of the early presidential debate. The company has long carried fiscal, industrial and electoral weight because of its role in fuel prices, dividends and federal influence over strategic sectors.
Zema framed the idea as consistent with his record in Minas Gerais, the large southeastern state he governed. He said his administration sold stakes in or privatized 118 companies during his four-year term.
“What I want, I already did in a certain way in Minas,” Zema said. “During my administration, we sold stakes in or privatized 118 companies. The only one left was Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais, Cemig.”
Cemig is Minas Gerais’s state energy company. Zema cited it as the main remaining item from his state-level privatization agenda, while presenting Petrobras as the federal equivalent of the same policy direction.
CNN Brasil reported that Zema made the comments on July 21. The outlet did not include, in the source article, a response from Petrobras, the federal government or other presidential contenders to his proposal.