Eletrobras privatization faces frantic race against time in the Senate

On the table since the beginning of the Jair Bolsonaro government, the privatization of massive Brazilian energy company Eletrobras is edging closer to fruition. Indeed, the process is now facing a mad dash over the finish line. A provisional decree laying the framework for the company’s privatization is awaiting approval in the Senate before the proposal expires in two weeks’ time. The bill’s rapporteur, Senator Marcos Rogério, said this approval will come “if not [today], then at the beginning of next week.”

But there are still ways to go before Latin America’s biggest power utility company can go private — not least because the current privatization draft is heavily criticized by economists and experts from the energy sector.

The proposal contains a number of unrelated provisions which have been panned by specialists. Mr. Rogério noted that he may accept some suggested changes to the decree, which would force the bill back to the lower house for final approval. As the decree expires on June 22, these late changes could sentence the process to extinction, meaning lawmakers will have to start again from scratch.

Despite promising wholesale privatization during the 2018 election campaign, the current proposal is the first project to sell a...