According to Neri Geller, who left the Secretariat for Agricultural Policies of the Ministry of Agriculture, the auction was “poorly conducted”, but there was no “bad faith”; he was fired for signs of conflict of interest
Fired by the Secretariat for Agricultural Policies of the Minister of AgricultureNeri Geller said that Pres Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was “misleading” in its decision to import up to 1 million tonnes of rice by the federal government.
“Without a doubt, the auction was disorganized and the issue was politicized by the opposition. There was a lack of organization and a lack of leadership,” Geller said in an interview with BandNews after his dismissal was published Wednesday 12.
“For my part, in the technical meetings of the Civil House, there was no lack of requests for prudence”, he observed, recalling that the economic group had agreed not to hold the public event.
Geller was fired due to signs of conflict of interest and links to intermediaries in the industry federal government rice import auction. Geller’s son, Marcello Geller, is a partner in a company owned by Robson Luiz de Almeida França, one of the main intermediaries of the companies that won the tender.
França is the owner of Foco Corretora de Grãos and president of the Mato Grosso Commodity Exchange (BMT), which traded 116 thousand tons of the 263.3 thousand sold at auction, as well as being a former parliamentary advisor to Geller when he was a federal deputy councilor. He denies the favor of France and the involvement of his son Marcello in the auction.
The government supervisory bodies recognized that there were signs of influence peddling and conflict of interest in the auction and, therefore, ordered the cancellation and removal of the secretary.
For Geller, the rice auction was “misconducted from a political point of view”, but he denied that there had been “bad faith”. “The technical positions were not respected. They rushed to ensure that the rice reached the outskirts of the large centres”, he said, without specifying who was responsible for holding the auction in reverse. For him, the production sector should have been listened to more. “The tender followed the parameters of the law. Conab did and demanded compliance, but the auction was a mistake”, he specified.
Geller also stated that he did not ask for dismissal from the department, but that he was informed of his dismissal by the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro. “I have no fault for this. I cannot be penalized for a political mistake made in the conduct of this auction,” he said, complaining of being used as a “scapegoat”.
“My resignation came from the ministry. I don’t know if it was requested by Lula, but given my work history I don’t think so,” he added. “It is right that the president is concerned about the price of rice because it affects the poorest masses, but the price of rice is globalized.”
Geller also said that he will consider participating in the public hearing of the Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development Commission of the Chamber of Deputies to clarify the rice auction.
Source: Terra
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