May 2016, Vol. 243, No. 5
Web Exclusive
Former Brazil Energy Minister New CEO at Troubled Petrobras
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Former Brazilian energy minister Pedro Parente has been named by acting President Michel Temer as the new CEO of state-run oil giant Petrobras.
Parente was picked Thursday to replace Aldemir Bendine, an appointee of now suspended President Dilma Rousseff. The new Petrobras CEO was working as chairman of Sao Paulo-based financial bourse BM&FBovespa.
Parente served in a number of positions under President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. He is widely known to Brazilians as the “blackout minister,” due to his efforts during energy rationing in 2001. He has worked for private organizations since Rousseff’s Workers’ Party first won the presidency in 2003.
Petrobras is the epicenter of a sprawling corruption scandal that has rocked Brazilian politics and economy since 2014. Parente is the company’s third CEO in less than 16 months.
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