'We will not passively accept playing the victim'

247 - Petrobras President Aldemir Bendine stated this Friday, the 31st, that "it is everyone's duty" at the company "to work hard so that these discoveries (of corruption practices) make Petrobras stronger, more solid, and more transparent."

"We do not accept and will never accept the condition of passive victimhood," he emphasized in a speech during the symbolic act of recovering R$ 69 million for the company's coffers. This was the second installment recovered by the oil company of money diverted through acts of corruption investigated in Operation Lava Jato.

The returned funds represent 80% of a total of US$29 million (R$86,9 million) repatriated by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) of Switzerland and returned by the former manager of the state-owned company, Pedro Barusco, as a result of a plea bargain agreement within the scope of ongoing investigations.

The remaining 20% ​​of the total repatriated funds will be made available to the Federal Police for possible compensation claims that may arise after the conviction. The repatriated funds relate to bribes received by Barusco from 1999 to 2012, stemming from contracts with the Dutch company SBM, a supplier of floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels.

"We are taking back resources from shareholders, and therefore, from all Brazilians," said Bendine, reinforcing, as in the event that took place in March when the company recovered R$ 157 million, that Petrobras will seek "full reparation for the misappropriated resources."

The president of the state-owned company also announced new measures to "improve the company's internal controls" and its relationship with suppliers. "We cannot miss the opportunity to learn from this crisis," he stressed. The Attorney General of the Republic, Rodrigo Janot, and the Minister of Justice, José Eduardo Cardozo, also spoke at the event.

With Brazil Agency

Read below the full text of the statement released by Petrobras shortly after the event, with the measures announced by Bendine:

Petrobras increases rigor in hiring suppliers.
This Friday, the company will receive funds from the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office that were embezzled by former employees.

Petrobras has tightened its supplier management process. Companies will be required to provide detailed information on their structure, finances, and compliance mechanisms, as well as measures to combat fraud and corruption, among other items, and will be evaluated through a process known as Integrity Due Diligence.

The objective is to increase security in the procurement of goods and services and mitigate risks related to fraud and corruption practices. The company has been implementing actions so that only suppliers who prove to adopt compliance and integrity measures are kept in Petrobras' registry and can participate in bidding processes. The measures were announced this Friday (31) during an act of returning resources recovered by the Federal Public Ministry to the company.

The review of supplier status begins with companies that have been provisionally blocked due to evidence uncovered by the Lava Jato Operation investigations. Simultaneously, those undergoing renewal or being added to the corporate registry are evaluated. New contracts will be signed with suppliers that have been approved under the new integrity analysis model.

In addition to verifying the accuracy of the information provided, companies that remain in Petrobras' supplier database will give the company the prerogative to conduct audits of their integrity standards and their fight against fraud and corruption.

COLLECTIVE DECISIONS – Petrobras has also been implementing a series of initiatives to increase its internal control. One of the guiding principles of these changes is the limitation of individual decisions at all levels of the company, promoting collective decisions.

Another measure is the creation of two new committees (Strategic and Financial), in addition to the three that already existed (Audit; Safety, Environment and Health; and Compensation and Succession), to advise the Board of Directors in the assessment of agendas, deepening the analysis of all topics submitted to it.

All projects developed and approved within the company must now also be submitted to an evaluation matrix that takes into account potential risks, including from the perspective of control and transparency.

COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS – To encourage reports of suspected irregularities, Petrobras has begun the process of hiring an independent external ombudsman specializing in this service.

The channel will be available 24 hours a day, in several languages, and will also be open to the public, accepting anonymous complaints. This format is already adopted by the largest oil companies with good governance practices.

Another change concerns the functioning of the Internal Investigation Committees, created whenever it is necessary to investigate evidence of irregularities committed by Petrobras employees. Now, all committees investigating possible cases of fraud and corruption are composed of representatives from the areas of Corporate Security, Auditing, Legal, and Compliance. Whenever they identify possible crimes, the committees' reports are sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office and the police.
Another measure is that Internal Audit now participates in all meetings of Petrobras' Executive Board, which contributes to the preparation of audit plans from the beginning of project approval.

PUNISHMENT OF EMPLOYEES – In order to increase the severity of sanctions against employees involved in cases of disrespect for Petrobras' rules, the Correction Committee was created, linked to the Governance, Risk and Compliance Directorate.

The role of this committee is to ensure that the punishments applied to employees within the company are appropriate to the severity of the irregularities. Furthermore, the committee has the prerogative to punish managers who fail to investigate or punish their subordinates.