Court grants preliminary injunction in lawsuit filed by OAB-CE against Petrobras.
The Public Civil Action was filed on May 6th against Petrobras. In the initial action, the OAB-CE (Brazilian Bar Association of Ceará) requests compensation of R$ 980 million for damages to the State of Ceará, to private individuals, and for collective moral damages. The exact amounts of material and moral damages will be determined during the course of the proceedings.
Ceara 247 - In a Public Civil Action filed by the OAB Ceará (Brazilian Bar Association, Ceará chapter), the judge of the 18th Civil Court, Josias Nunes Vidal, granted a preliminary injunction ordering Petrobras to present all the documents requested in the legal action, considering the cancellation of the construction of the Premium II Refinery in the State. According to the injunction (Case No. 01538622420158.06.0001), three studies were requested: one, regarding the technical feasibility of the project for the implementation of a new refinery in Brazil, specifically in the State of Ceará; another, presenting a detailed technical study that concluded that the State of Ceará is an appropriate location for the construction of the refinery; and the third document, presenting the reasons attesting that the refinery would no longer be viable for Ceará.
According to the decision, the documents must be delivered within 15 days, under penalty of a daily fine of R$ 20. The magistrate also ordered the State Government to be notified to present its position in the process. Regarding the request for preliminary injunction for the restitution of the property ceded by the State of Ceará, Judge Josias Nunes Vidal understands that the determination of return may be made after the documents have been submitted, at an opportune time.
The Public Civil Action was filed on May 6th against Petrobras. In the initial action, the OAB-CE (Brazilian Bar Association of Ceará) requests compensation of R$ 980 million for patrimonial damages to the State of Ceará, to private individuals, and collective moral damages. The exact amounts of material and moral damages will be determined during the course of the process. In the document, the OAB-CE argues that Petrobras undertook two contractual instruments (Memorandum of Understanding and Commitment Agreement) indicating the effective installation of the "Premium II" Refinery in the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex (CIPP), in addition to having carried out numerous acts that indicated the effective installation.
According to the protocol signed by the State of Ceará, Petrobras and Ceará Portos, with the consent of the Ceará Gas Company, Transpetro and BR Distribuidora, the investments made by the State of Ceará may be charged to Petrobras if the project is not completed due to Petrobras' fault (clause 2.2 of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2008).
According to the president of the OAB-CE (Brazilian Bar Association of Ceará), Valdetário Andrade Monteiro, the organization conducted a study to determine the damages caused to the State of Ceará as a result of the cancellation of the construction of the Premium II Refinery. “Based on the study, we determined that Petrobras should be held responsible for all the money invested by both the State Government and the society that believed in this project to have a source of income in the future. The promise was 90 jobs and the investment was US$11,1 billion, which, according to Petrobras' response to the OAB-CE, will not materialize. The Bar Association cannot remain silent in the face of such folly,” he clarifies.
According to the president of the Constitutional Studies Commission, Fábio Zech, "public assets were harmed, since the State Government acted in accordance with the principles of good faith, and because it understood that it was necessary to make substantial investments to enable the implementation of the Premium II Refinery, a project that was never actually carried out."