Petrobras and 7 other companies removed from privatization program
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ordered the withdrawal of 8 public companies from the federal government's privatization and concession program, among them Petrobras, the company that manages part of the country's oil sector. The president's decision was published in the Government’s Gazette on Monday (Jan. 2).
The companies whose privatization processes will be interrupted, besides Petrobras, are: Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telégrafos (mail and parcel delivery), Empresa Brasil de Comunicação – EBC (manager of the public broadcasting system), Empresa de Tecnologia e Informações da Previdência Social – Dataprev (Social Security Information and Technology Company), Nuclep S.A. (producer of heavy equipment for the Brazilian Nuclear Program), Serviço Federal de Processamento de Dados - Serpro ( Federal Data Processing Service), warehouses and properties owned by the National Supply Company Conab, and Empresa Brasileira de Administração de Petróleo e Gás Natural S.A. (Brazilian Petroleum and Natural Gas Administration Company S.A. - manager of contracts and marketing of oil found in the pre-salt layer).
The president's order states that it is necessary to "ensure a rigorous analysis of the impacts of privatization on the public service or on the market in which the economic activity in question is inserted.
All privatization processes had been initiated by the previous government of Jair Bolsonaro.
