Plan to privatize Eletrobras to reach Congress in November

Brazil’s Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque said Friday (Oct 18) that the project to privatize the state-run Eletrobras is to be submitted to Congress by November at the latest. “The bill will be sent to the Parliament by the end of this month or early in November,” Albuquerque said.

Talks are being held with Congress members to facilitate the advance of the government’s piece of legislation. “We’ll also talk to a few Congress leaders. I plan to submit the bill to Congress in person, considering its relevance.”

Albuquerque said the privatization plan is still based on capitalization, i.e. the firm’s capital is increased, decreasing the government’s shares in the company.

Capitalization and layoffs

This Monday (Oct 14), Eletrobras announced a capitalization process aimed at increasing the company’s capital by $2.4 billion with the release of new shares. Of this amount, approximately $1 billion will be allotted by the government itself, which controls the company.

Last week, Eletrobras launched a voluntary layoff plan to let 1.6 thousand workers go, sparing an estimated $123 million a year.