The minister of mines and energy, Alexander Silveira (PSD), denied this Friday (26) that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) dealt with succession at vale (vale3) and said that the president “would never be willing to directly interfere in a publicly traded company”.
The minister’s statements come after several media outlets published that Lula was seeking to place Guido Mantega, former finance minister in the Lula and Dilma Rousseff (pt) governments, in charge of the mining company — or at least a vacancy on the board of directors.
“President Lula would never be willing to directly interfere in a publicly traded company, listed on the stock exchange. An organization [company that does not have a controller] that has its governance and its legal nature that must be preserved”, Silveira told journalists in Brasília. “especially because Brazil is a country that respects contracts, a country that has stable regulation”.
The minister did not mention mantega’s name and also denied the information that he had called the company’s advisors to defend the appointment of the former minister (the mining company has 11 members on its board of directors). “Ecu, at no point did I make a reference to the government for any vacancy at Vale. None. None”.
The pressure that the government denies has been applied because the current CEO, Eduardo Bartolomeo, has a contract until May 31st. According to the company’s bylaws, the executive must be notified four months in advance whether his term will be renewed or whether the board will open a process to hire a new president. As the deadline ends on Wednesday (31), the directors must meet before then to deliberate on the succession at the mining company.
Mantega’s name is not well-liked by the financial market due to his role as finance minister during the Dilma government, when Brazil faced the biggest recession in its history. Despite evaluating the appointment as unlikely, analysts warned about the risk of the government using powers such as the release of environmental licenses or greater taxation to retaliate against the mining company.
Criticism of Vale
In the midst of the war of versions, Lula made harsh criticisms of the mining company yesterday, on the day that marked 5 years since the tragedy in Brumadinho (MG), while the national president of the PT (and federal deputy for Paraná), Gleisi Hoffmann , defended the appointment of mantega to the board of directors.
Gleisi said that “very few Brazilians are as qualified as Guido Mantega to be part of Vale’s board.” The PT president also said that the company is “strategic for the country” and that the government “has participation and responsibilities” in it, “even after its privatization that is damaging to public assets”. She also said that the former minister is “one of the most wronged Brazilians in our country” and qualified “for this or any other important omission”.
Lula stated that Vale “did nothing to repair the destruction” caused by the collapse of the Córrego do Feio mine, which left 270 people dead (and three bodies still missing) on January 25, 2019. Despite the statement, the mining company signed an agreement of repair on February 4, 2021.
With an estimated value of R$37.7 billion, the agreement was not signed by the federal government, but by the government of Minas Gerais, the federal (mpf) and state (mpmg) public ministries and by the public defender of Minas Gerais. The document outlines the company’s obligations to carry out socioeconomic and socio-environmental repairs for the tragedy.
The minister of mines and energy also took advantage of today’s press conference to criticize the mining company and said that, in the specific conversations he had with Lula about the company, the president limited himself to demanding that reparations be carried out in Mariana and Brumadinho.
Silveira said that he has “known and strong criticisms of Vale’s management” and that the company needs to improve its management and its dialogue with the government and society. The politician also stated that, in conversations with company directors and advisors, he has called for sharing its logistics with other mining companies, which would reduce the number of trucks on the roads and could give the road network a longer life.
From brumadinho to mariana
Lula cited not only the tragedy in brumadinho in his statement, but also the environmental disaster in mariana (mg) — which also involves the valley. “It is necessary to support the victims’ families, environmental recovery and, above all, inspection and prevention in mining projects, so that we do not have new tragedies like Brumadinho and Mariana”.
The disaster in Mariana occurred on November 5, 2015, with the collapse of the Fundão dam, and also involves Vale because Samarco is a joint project between the Brazilian mining company and the Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton. The rupture killed 19 people, destroyed the districts of Bento Rodrigues, Paracatu de Baixo and Gesteira, left thousands homeless and caused an environmental impact never seen before in the country.
The sea of mud that came down from the dam reached 39 municipalities in 2 states (Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo) and deposited ore tailings along 650 km of the Doce River, up to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean. Also yesterday, the federal court in Minas Gerais ordered Samarco, Vale and BHP to pay R$47.6 billion for the tragedy.
