President Jair Bolsonaro said today (3) that the price of oil in the international market should rise further in the coming weeks, again impacting the price of fuels in Brazil. For him, this reinforces the need to change Petrobras' command.

Last month, Bolsonaro announced the appointment of General Joaquim Silva e Luna to assume the presidency of the state-owned company, in place of Roberto Castello Branco, who has been in office since the beginning of the government. Castello Branco's term of office ends on March 20 and the exchange has yet to be resolved by the Petrobras Board of Directors.

On Wednesday, in Brasília, Bolsonaro participated in a meeting with ambassadors from countries in the Persian Gulf, a region that concentrates most of the world's oil production. “I talked about oil and they think that the price is still not very adequate, we may have an increase in oil in the coming weeks. This complicates for us and reinforces our interest in effectively changing the president of Petrobras, ”said the president when leaving the residence of the Kuwait ambassador to Brazil, Nasser Riden T. Almotairi.

The president stressed that this is not an interference in the state-owned company, but that the company can collaborate with other agencies in measures such as combating cartels and adulteration of fuels and in diversifying the oil refining market.

“There is a refinery, owned by one of the ambassadors, which is operating at 70% capacity. I am sorry to inform you, but it seems that we could be refining more and there are interests, which we are investigating, in refining less to force us to import diesel oil, which makes the final product more expensive in Brazil, ”explained Bolsonaro.

Fuel prices 

The prices practiced at Petrobras refineries are adjusted according to the exchange rate and the variation in the international price of oil, negotiated in dollars. Yesterday (3), the price of gasoline, diesel and cooking gas increased again at refineries.

On Monday (1st), the government issued a decree and a provisional measure that zeroed the rates of the contribution of PIS and Cofins, federal taxes, incidents on the commercialization and importation of diesel oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) ) for residential use. Regarding diesel, the decrease will be valid during the months of March and April. As for cooking gas, the measure is permanent.

For Bolsonaro, it is important now that Congress approves the complementary bill sent by the Executive that changes the way of charging the ICMS, which is a state tax, on fuels and lubricants. The text proposes that there is a single levy of ICMS on these products.

Currently, the ICMS on fuels, whose rates vary from 12% to 35%, depending on the state, is charged based on the average price of the liter of fuel sold at the pump and, therefore, its cost is usually passed on to the final consumer.

The proposal makes the ICMS invariable because of the price of fuel or changes in the exchange rate and, if approved in the version presented by the government, the ICMS taxpayers on fuels will be producers or importers of fuels and lubricants.

“It is to provide predictability. Nobody wants to interfere or pressure the governor on anything. Now, it cannot when fuel prices increase here [at the refinery], with an increase taking into account the variation in the price of oil abroad and the dollar here, this automatically applies to increase other taxes ”, said Bolsonaro.