The chief executive of Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA estimates it will take five years for the state-run oil producer to win back the credibility it lost among investors after a massive corruption scandal sent some of its top executives to jail.
Aldemir Bendine told daily O Estado de S.Paulo that the corruption scandal will weigh on Petrobras as long as investigations continue but that he will keep pushing for management and financial changes in the company.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe in this project,” he said in an interview published on the paper’s website on Saturday. “It is a five-year project.”
Petrobras last week reported a 89 percent plunge in its second-quarter net income as it took a one-time charge for underperforming projects before a planned sale of up to $15.1 billion in assets by the end of 2016.
Bendine said he was negotiating partnerships to help Petrobras conclude some of its investments, including its $15 billion Comperj refinery outside Rio de Janeiro.
“We already have four investors interested (in Comperj), including a Chinese investor,” he said without giving names. “The (partnership) value is 3-4 billion reais ($0.9-1.1 billion) but if they want to invest more I won’t be upset.”
