Brazilian miner Vale separates director because of Brumadinho disaster | Economy



[ad_1]

Five weeks after the rupture of a waste raft, more than 300 people lost their lives in Brumadinho (Minas Gerais, Brazil) and, if a hundred long corpses have still not been identified, the owner company has decided to temporarily dismiss its chairman. executive, Fabio Schvartsman. This and three other executives of Vale, one of the largest Brazilian multinationals, left office on Saturday night after a meeting of the board of directors. On Friday, the federal prosecutor's office, the regional prosecutor's office and the federal police, investigating the dam's breach on January 25, asked the company to stop the four directors and a dozen employees. Vale's current executive director, Eduardo Bartolomeo, replaces him.

The Brumadinho disaster put the safety and control measures of this type of facility at the center of the debate because only three years ago, another Vale mine had suffered a similar break. The collapse of Mariana, near Brumadinho, also in Minas Gerais, caused 19 deaths and the biggest ecological disaster in the history of Brazil. When Mr. Schvartsman became CEO of Vale in May 2017, he adopted the slogan "Mariana Never Again". Twenty months later, a huge mud language swallowed 300 people between company workers and contractors.

Vale's outgoing CEO, Fabio Schvartsman, in February.


Vale's outgoing CEO, Fabio Schvartsman, in February. REUTERS

The Public Ministry of Mines announced Friday the opening of a corruption investigation of Vale, suspected by its administrators to mislead the authorities on the safety of the waste raft that collapsed. If found guilty, the fine could be 20% of your gross income. With this announcement, the shares of the mining company fell 5.4% that day to recover a little later. Vale has used all the mines imposed by the disaster three years ago.

The event resulted, in addition to loss of life, economic losses for the owner. On Wednesday, the rating agency Moody's downgraded Vale's investment grade from Baa3 to Ba1 worldwide. Since the Brumadinho disaster, the company, which is the world's largest producer of iron ore, has lost more than 16% of its value on the stock market. personal diary Folha.

Moody's said in his note this week that "although Vale's strong financial position offers good protection against potential financial impacts (de Brumadinho), the accident raises concerns from a social point of view, and what happened a little over three years after the collapse of the Samarco waste dam [en referencia a la mina Mariana]"Vale gave the families of each victim 100,000 reals (about 23,000 euros).

.

[ad_2]
Source link