USA-BRAZIL/PETROBRAS Brazil's Rousseff: Will hold people accountable in Petrobras scandal

Record ID: 135438

  • Title: USA-BRAZIL/PETROBRAS Brazil's Rousseff: Will hold people accountable in Petrobras scandal
  • Date: 30th June 2015
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (FILE) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF PETROBRAS HEADQUARTERS IN RIO DE JANEIRO SAO PAULO STATE, BRAZIL (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OFFSHORE OIL PLATFORM
  • Embargoed: 15th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADQ84B1P578QNH2TII7FIKXG00
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Tuesday (June 30) she will hold people who engaged in corruption accountable in a scandal involving the state-run oil firm Petrobras.
    Rousseff said at a White House news conference that some Petrobras employees engaged in corruption and that federal prosecutors are investigating the matter.
    "It's (Petrobras) one of the major oil and gas production and exploration companies. Petrobras has more than 90,000 employees. Some Petrobras employees committed corruption crimes and thus the investigation by the public ministry and the federal police which is investigating and currently trying them. First they will have to be found guilty, but the evidence that the investigators have found is strong. With this I mean to say that all the legal measures taken regarding Petrobras will have to consider that acts of corruption were committed within Petrobras. Yet, it was not all the employees and it isn't the whole company and therefore, there has to be accountability for the one who committed it. If this is clear, the perpetrators will be punished and after that we will know what will happen with the company," Rousseff said.
    On Monday (June 29) the state-run oil company slashed its long-term spending plan to the lowest level in eight years as new management moved to reduce the industry's largest debt burden and restore confidence.
    The scandal could hit Brazil particularly hard because in recent years the oil giant has spent about $40 billion a year, an amount about double the entire Brazilian federal government's discretionary budget for roads, ports, hospitals, new computers and other infrastructure.
    However, Rousseff, who chaired Petrobras' board from 2003 to 2010, added that it was a "strong company" which was managed properly and well governed.
    "Now, the good news regarding Petrobras is that it is a strong company which is very well-managed today with governance procedures, and compliance procedures in place and quite well-adjusted. If this were not the case, how could we possibly understand that it has come to a production level of 800,000 barrels a day? And it won, this year, the so-called "Oscar" of the oil industry for innovation, which is the OTC (Offshore Technology Conference) prize. So, I want to say the following. Petrobras is not a company that is on trial. Petrobras is a company in full use of its activity," she said.
    U.S. President Barack Obama declined to comment on the case, citing the ongoing investigation.
    Brazilian prosecutors are sharing their investigation of foreign companies with the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States, which wants to make sure companies comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
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