Embattled Brazilian oil company Petrobras says the company's chief
executive and five other top figures are stepping down amid a
long-running kickback scandal at the firm.
Government-run Petrobras said in a one-line statement on its website that chief executive Maria das Gracas Foster and five other executive directors were out.
None of the top officials is facing charges of wrongdoing, but prosecutors have said the investigation is still in its early stages.
Maria das Gracas Foster has stepped down as CEO of the embattled Brazilian oil company. Photo / Douglas Engle
For months there have been loud calls from business and political circles for a shakeup of Petrobras' top executives.
Even before the scandal broke early last year, the company was saddled with huge debt and was not making good on its potential in developing Brazil's enormous offshore oil fields that could hold upward of 100 billion barrels.
Petrobras has lost billions in market value as daily reports broke news about the extent of the alleged corruption.
Prosecutors say construction and engineering firms paid
hundreds of millions in bribes in return for inflated contracts worth
billions.
Petrobras' debt has been downgraded by Moody's and Fitch in the past week, further choking its ability to borrow on international markets.
The oil firm is Brazil's biggest company and is charged with tapping offshore oil fields and creating wealth that leaders hope will propel the country to developed-world status. But the debt-plagued company hasn't met development goals, and the riches remain buried deep under the sea.
The company did some survey work off New Zealand's East Cape early in 2011 and encountered stiff opposition from environmentalists. It surrendered permits in late 2012.
"This scandal at Petrobras is a disaster for Brazil," said a political analyst at the Getulio Vargas think tank in Rio, Carlos Pereira. "A company that was a national symbol is today facing a melancholic situation."
Brazilian prosecutors have said the kickback scheme involved at least US$800 million ($1.08 billion) in bribes and other illegal funds. They expect that figure to grow as they keep investigating.
Some of that money was funnelled back to the ruling Workers' Party and its allies' campaign coffers, often as legal corporate donations.
Federal prosecutors said they had recovered about US$170 million involved in the scheme, that more than 230 businesses of all sizes were being investigated and that 86 people were facing charges, including several top executives from Brazil's main construction and engineering firms who have been jailed.
Federal prosecutors are expected to announce charges this month against dozens of politicians, mostly congressmen, in connection with the case.
Speculation has been rife that Foster, 61, would be fired, but her friend and ally, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, has sharply defended her record of more than three decades in the company.
Rousseff had yet to comment yesterday on Foster's resignation.
Government-run Petrobras said in a one-line statement on its website that chief executive Maria das Gracas Foster and five other executive directors were out.
None of the top officials is facing charges of wrongdoing, but prosecutors have said the investigation is still in its early stages.
For months there have been loud calls from business and political circles for a shakeup of Petrobras' top executives.
Even before the scandal broke early last year, the company was saddled with huge debt and was not making good on its potential in developing Brazil's enormous offshore oil fields that could hold upward of 100 billion barrels.
Petrobras has lost billions in market value as daily reports broke news about the extent of the alleged corruption.
Petrobras' debt has been downgraded by Moody's and Fitch in the past week, further choking its ability to borrow on international markets.
The oil firm is Brazil's biggest company and is charged with tapping offshore oil fields and creating wealth that leaders hope will propel the country to developed-world status. But the debt-plagued company hasn't met development goals, and the riches remain buried deep under the sea.
The company did some survey work off New Zealand's East Cape early in 2011 and encountered stiff opposition from environmentalists. It surrendered permits in late 2012.
"This scandal at Petrobras is a disaster for Brazil," said a political analyst at the Getulio Vargas think tank in Rio, Carlos Pereira. "A company that was a national symbol is today facing a melancholic situation."
Brazilian prosecutors have said the kickback scheme involved at least US$800 million ($1.08 billion) in bribes and other illegal funds. They expect that figure to grow as they keep investigating.
Some of that money was funnelled back to the ruling Workers' Party and its allies' campaign coffers, often as legal corporate donations.
Federal prosecutors said they had recovered about US$170 million involved in the scheme, that more than 230 businesses of all sizes were being investigated and that 86 people were facing charges, including several top executives from Brazil's main construction and engineering firms who have been jailed.
Federal prosecutors are expected to announce charges this month against dozens of politicians, mostly congressmen, in connection with the case.
Speculation has been rife that Foster, 61, would be fired, but her friend and ally, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, has sharply defended her record of more than three decades in the company.
Rousseff had yet to comment yesterday on Foster's resignation.
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