Free translation from article at Valor Economico
07/20/2016
The decision of Odebrecht Oil and Gas (OOG) to go to court to participate in a Petrobras tender was timely and should not be replicated in a linear fashion going forward. “It is not the goal be litigating with Petrobras,” said a source familiar with the matter.
OOG is in the block list of Petrobras, which lists companies prevented from being hired by Petrobras or compete in any bidding process . But OOG obtained an injunction in June to compete in a bid to provide maintenance services in the P55 and P62 platforms, located in the Roncador field in the Campos Basin.
The CGU agency found no evidence of involvement of OOG in corruption schemes such as the “Lava Jato”, however, the opinion has not yet been formalized.
With this argument, OOG obtained a favorable interim decision in court of Rio de Janeiro to compete in the auction, which was scheduled to start on 13 June. The injunction was granted by Judge Fernandes, the 13th Civil Court of the Court of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ), which reversed the lower court decision contrary to the claim of the OOG.
The case of OOG is similar to that of Queiroz Galvao Oleo e Gas (QGOG), which had its respective lawsuit filed by the CGU in February and was removed from the list at Petrobras. Similarly, investigations made by a committee established by CGU found no irregularities.
Until now the only evidence of wrongdoing is relating to the construction companies, Queiroz Galvão and Odebrecht, under the operation “Lava Jato”, according to the Federal Police and the Federal Public Ministry. Nevertheless, both, the holding companies as service providers, were included in Petrobras’ precautionary block list at the end of 2014.
Thus, OOG has completed a year and a half in the Petrobras block list. The maximum period is two years.
According to the magistrate ( in his decision) that preventing the participation of OOG, which has no evidence of irregularities in previous contracts, “it is capable of causing serious damage” to the company, “endangering its activity, to the detriment of the principle of continuity of the company, and generating negative effects on the socio-economic context, since, given the current scenario, the reduction of the business company activities may even lead to increased unemployment. ”
Petrobras informed that it has appealed the judge’s decision. “Petrobras was notified of the grant of an injunction to Odebrecht, authorizing it to participate in bidding, but not removed from the list of precautionary lock. The company has appealed the decision and is taking all appropriate legal measures.”
With regard to bidding for procurement of maintenance services for the P55 and P62, Petrobras expects to receive proposals later this month.
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