Rio de Janeiro (awp/afp) – Brazilian oil company Petrobras announced Thursday a net profit multiplied by 38 in the first quarter of 2022, and drew fresh criticism from President Jair Bolsonaro who called its results “rape”.
Petrobras recorded a net profit of 44.56 billion reais (8.4 billion euros) from January to March, compared to 1.17 billion for the same period last year, according to a press release.
Its turnover jumped 64.4% over one year to 141.6 billion reais (27.8 billion Swiss francs).
The Brazilian state-controlled group has also announced that it will distribute 48.5 billion reais (9.5 billion Swiss francs) in dividends to its shareholders.
Shortly before the announcement of these results, Jair Bolsonaro again castigated the company, which he accuses of enriching itself on the backs of Brazilians by increasing its prices dizzyingly.
“His winnings are rape. They can’t keep raising fuel prices,” the far-right president said in his usual Thursday televised address.
Petrobras had announced in early March an 18.8% increase in the price of gasoline and 24.9% of diesel from its refineries, due to the disruption caused on the world oil market by the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia.
Since then, the company has been the constant target of criticism from Mr. Bolsonaro, whose chances of re-election in the October presidential election are suffering from the inflation that is hitting the country. The head of state has dismissed two presidents of Petrobras in less than a year and a half.
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