Alexandre Silveira calls the directors of the mining company to defend the appointment of a former finance minister
BRASÍLIA AND RIO – The Lula government has raised the tone in its articulations to place the former Finance Minister Guido Mantega at the command of OK. Wednesday 24th, the minister of Mining and energy, Alessandro Silveira, summoned the company’s directors to defend the shareholders’ committee’s choice of Lula’s candidate for president of the company. The group will meet next Tuesday, the 30th, to decide on the succession to the mining company.
The information was revealed by the newspaper The globe and confirmed by Estadao with a counselor. When contacted, Silveira did not respond.
According to the president’s aides, Lula wants Mantega to have a leading role in running the company, with an active voice in management, and not just a supporting player. He headed the Finance department from 2006 to 2014.
The medium-term exit designed to satisfy the interest of private shareholders, such as revealed by Estadão, remains on the table, but Planalto’s priority right now is to empower Mantega in the dispute. When contacted, the Secretariat for Communication (Secom) of the Presidency of the Republic said it would not comment.
As revealed by Estadaothe president’s aides and private partners created an agreement in which Mantega would occupy a seat on Vale’s board of directors, keeping the current president Eduardo Bartolomeo in office for a shorter period (one year). Cosan’s name on the board, Luis Henrique Guimarães, would be elevated to the executive committee.
The operation conducted by the government to try to put Mantega as president of the company is considered high risk by the board of shareholders, because the possibility of the minister being elected by the majority is considered unlikely. This is because the government no longer has the influence it once had over the mining company.
Privatized in 1997, Vale today operates as a “corporation”, in which no shareholder owns more than 10% of the company. The largest are Previ, through which the government exercises its influence, followed by BlackRock, Mitsui, Cosan and Bradespar. Of the 13 directors, eight are independent.
