A Federal Justice of Rio de Janeiro determined the carrying out of expertise for the eventual production of technical evidence that indicate a risk of deindustrialization of the country, which would be provoked by the privatization of Eletrobras. The decision is made by federal judge Adriano Saldanha Gomes de Oliveira, from the 28th Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro.
Economist Clarice Ferraz, director of the Institute for Strategic Development of the Energy Sector (Ilumina), was nominated by the Court for the investigation.
The action is filed by workers’ associations and unions against the Union and the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel).
The judge summoned the plaintiff and defendant parties to submit questions on the matter within 15 days, in order to clarify aspects considered doubtful.
After that period, Ferraz will have ten days to evaluate the requirements and confirm whether he accepts the assignment. From the beginning of the expertise, she will have 30 days to present a technical report.
In the action, the associations and unions point out that the sale of shareholding control of public companies and government-controlled companies requires legislative authorization and public bidding.
“In the present case, the damage could potentially occur in any unit of the federation, considering that the sale of Eletrobras is capable of influencing the price of the service provided throughout the country”, informed the plaintiffs in the initial petition. “Furthermore, it is clear that the sale of Eletrobras could damage the federal Treasury, therefore of national scope.”
Eletrobras was privatized in June 2022, under former President Jair Bolsonaro. The model chosen was to increase the capital of the state-owned company on the stock exchange, which diluted the Union’s participation to around 40%. The government lost share control, with its voting power reduced to 10%, as per the corporate model adopted by the privatized company.