Scandal-hit: Brazil’s Petrobras plunges on CEO news

RIO DE JANEIRO: Shares in Brazilian oil giant, Petrobras, plunged as banking executive Aldemir Bendine, who is seen as close to President Dilma Rousseff’s party, was named the scandal-hit firm’s new chief executive. Petrobras, the largest company in the world’s seventh-largest economy, has been thrown into crisis by allegations that executives colluded with construction firms to steal $4 billion from its coffers, with some of the cash being paid out in bribes to politicians – including members of Rousseff’s coalition. Petrobras shares fell nearly eight percent on the Sao Paulo stock exchange after initial media reports – later confirmed by the company – that Bendine would take the helm, as investors registered disappointment that the post would not go to an apolitical technical expert. The stock ended Friday down 6.52 percent. Bendine, 51, is currently the chief executive of state-controlled Banco do Brasil. He denied any affiliation with any political party.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2015.

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