MethodologyContact usLogin
Murilo Ferreira has taken a leave of absence as board chairman of Brazil’s state-owned oil firm Petrobras to focus on his role as ceo of the diversified miner Vale.
The executive requested the leave from Petrobras’ board until November 30, 2015, Petrobras said in a filing to the São Paulo stock exchange, BM&FBovespa.
The move came less than five months after the Brazilian government nominated Ferreira to help at Petrobras, which became embroiled in a corruption scandal that led to massive writedowns.
Vale’s director Clovis Torres,and deputy chairman of Petrobras’ board, also requested leave from the oil company for the same period as Ferreira.
According to Torres, Ferreira will have several demands coming from Vale in the upcoming months, such as Vale Day, road shows and visits to Canada, London and Japan.
“Since Vale will demand a lot, it would be unfair for Petrobras. He [Ferreira] would not be able to do the same thing that he used to do with these demands from Vale,” Torres told journalists on the sidelines of the Exposibram international mining exhibition and the 16th Brazilian mining congress in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state.
Following the departure of Ferreira and Torres, Petrobras’ board member Nelson Carvalho was elected as interim president of the oil company’s board.
Danielle Assalve danielle.assalve@metalbulletin.com Twitter: dassalve_mb