What used to be corporate Brazil’s top job as Chief Executive Officer is now a tough gig to sell.
The likely impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff has raised expectations for a leadership change at state-controlled Petrobras. The president has traditionally chosen the CEOs at banks and companies that are controlled by the government, even if the task is theoretically up to the board of directors.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, with more than 280,000 staff and contracted employees and the country’s biggest corporate investment program, normally has one of the most disputed CEO slots. Rousseff’s expected successor, Vice President Michel Temer, has said he wants to fill the post, even if not immediately.
It won’t be easy in 2016 to find a strong industry candidate. The offshore producer is sitting on the largest debt load in the industry. Prior CEOs have had assets frozen and are defending themselves in a class action suit in the U.S. Other former executives went to jail, and some prominent investors expect the government will eventually bail out the beleaguered producer. Leading figures in Brazil’s oil industry, whose names have appeared as potential candidates in the local media, have publicly shown no interest.
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