Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) has deemed two nominees to the Petrobras board of directors ineligible. Pietro Adamo Sampaio Mendes and Sérgio Machado Rezende were put forward for board seats at the state-controlled oil and gas company, but Petrobras’s eligibility committee and existing board had already considered them unfit to take office.
The federal government is the controlling shareholder of Petrobras, and the new Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration has made wholesale changes to the company’s board since taking office in January.
Mr. Mendes is currently the secretary for oil, natural gas, and biofuels at the Mines and Energy Ministry — the reason that he has been deemed unfit to take a seat on the Petrobras board. The company says he must first resign from his role in the government.
Mr. Rezende was Brazil’s science and technology minister during Lula’s second term as president. He is currently a member of the national board of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), which is why he does not meet the requirements set forth in Petrobras’s bylaws.
However, the final decision on Messrs. Mendes and Rezende, as well as other nominees, will be made during an election at the next shareholders meeting, scheduled for April 27. Eight new members of the 11-person board will be chosen during the meeting.
The shareholders will also decide on a proposal to increase the salaries of high-ranking Petrobras employees. Last year, executives got a 44 percent pay rise.
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