BRASILIA, April 8 — President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called a meeting yesterday evening with three cabinet ministers that could decide on whether to replace the chief executive of Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras Jean Paul Prates, two sources told Reuters.
The ministers of Finance, Fernando Haddad, of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, and Lula’s chief of staff, Rui Costa, were summoned to the meeting at the presidential residence, the Alvorada Palace, according to the sources who asked to remain anonymous.
The meeting takes place after a week of speculation that Prates would be replaced. On Thursday, government sources said the resignation of the Petrobras chief executive was likely in the coming days.
One of the sources told Reuters yesterday that Prates would not survive “to the end of the week.”
The president of Brazil’s National Development Bank (BNDES), Aloizio Mercadante, a close aide to Lula, has been named as a possible candidate to take over from Prates.
Uncertainty about the future of Petrobras brought volatility to the company’s shares prices in recent sessions.
Prates has been under fire from parts of the government that want to see him bring down fuel prices and ramp up job-creating investments. Last month, he clashed with cabinet members over a Petrobras dividend withheld from investors. — Reuters
