Bolsonaro betrays truck drivers and Petrobras raises diesel prices between 4,5% and 5,1%.
Petrobras announced on Wednesday night (17) a readjustment of R$ 0,10 per liter of diesel; according to the president of Petrobras, Roberto Castello Branco, the readjustment varies between 4,5% and 5,1% in the value of the fuel at the pumps, depending on the point of sale; the measure was announced a day after Jair Bolsonaro was reprimanded by Minister Paulo Guedes for having suspended the previous readjustment announcement; truck drivers have already warned that they may launch a national strike and paralyze the country if the price of diesel rises; the government is waiting to see.
Infomoney - Petrobras announced on Wednesday night (17) an adjustment of R$ 0,10 per liter of diesel, which, according to the company's CEO, Roberto Castello Branco, represents an increase of between 4,5% and 5,1% in the price of fuel at the pumps, depending on the point of sale.
After announcing a 5,7% increase in the price of diesel last Thursday, the state-owned company reversed its decision the same day after President Jair Bolsonaro called the oil company's CEO, Roberto Castello Branco, and asked him to suspend the price adjustment. On Friday, the company's shares plummeted 8%, causing it to lose R$ 32,4 billion in market value.
Last Tuesday, a meeting took place between Bolsonaro, ministers, and the president of Petrobras. After the meeting, the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, stated that the president considered the political dimension of the readjustment when he called the head of the state-owned company.
Furthermore, the minister stated that several alternatives are being studied to provide more transparency to Petrobras' fuel price adjustment policy, including indexing freight prices to the price of diesel.
He cited that this is the policy used in the United States and said that Petrobras was "interrogated" during the meeting with President Jair Bolsonaro.
"Everything needs to be studied for the future, and the president of Petrobras was already studying it. This episode precipitates the acceleration of studies," Guedes emphasized. "The president of Petrobras himself is recalculating what the best practices would be."
Read below the text from 247 about a possible truckers' strike:
Truck drivers plan to strike on May 21 if diesel prices rise.
Truck drivers are organizing a new national strike for May 21st, the one-year anniversary of the strike that shook the Temer government in 2018. The movement will take place if there is any adjustment in diesel fuel prices and if the minimum freight rate continues to be disregarded.
"If the price of diesel increases by even one cent and there's no effective enforcement of the minimum price, we'll strike on the 21st, when last year's strike will mark its one-year anniversary," assures truck driver Wanderlei Alves, known as Dedéco, from Curitiba (PR), one of the members of the category's leadership network, in an interview with journalist [name missing]. Leila Souza Lima, from Valor Econômico
According to the truck driver, the representatives currently working in Brasília with the federal government have no control over truck drivers across the country. "There are 20 to 30 leaders spread throughout all the states communicating and coordinating. They can say in no uncertain terms that we won't stop, but we will if nothing is done," says Alves.