New business plan a challenge for Petrobras

Petrobras CEO Aldemir Bendine said on Tuesday (Apr 28) that he should conclude the oil giant's business plan in 40 days, which he described as the biggest challenge lying ahead of the state-controlled firm. A wholesale istrative reform is underway, he reported.

“We're planning to work hard on […] corporate governance and risk mitigation in a bid to make decision making processes in the company much safer without losing speed,” Bendine argued during a public hearing at the Senate.  He mentioned that, after he took the reins of the firm in February, he overcame two challenges: the presentation of a credible balance sheet for 2014, and the firm's financial viability for 2015.

Bendine was referring to the audited balance sheet for 2014, which reports losses adding up to $7.46 billion, $2.07 billion of which siphoned off by corruption. According to data from the sheet, Petrobras needs another 5 years of operation to settle its $97.43 billion net debt. The board of directors is currently working to cut this period down to two and a half years.

In the view of Senator Ricardo Ferraço, vice-president of the Senate's Commission for Infrastructure, Petrobras “was under the worst istration and management standards and under the wildest instincts of dilapidation of Brazil's public property, which had been building up over the course of decades, also through the effort of several professionals from Petrobras.”

The CEO went on to say that he cannot guarantee that corruption will not be a problem in the future. “That the risks of misconduct have been permanently removed is something we'll never be able to claim. What must exist is a good process of governance, compliance with the rules, risk mitigation—something we're setting as one of our major goals,” he explained.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira