The Minister of the STF prohibits the sale of participations in public companies

The Federal Supreme Court (STF) Minister Ricardo Lewandowski today granted a preliminary injunction (27) preventing the government from selling, without the authorization of the Legislature, the control of the government. shareholding of public enterprises of mixed economy, such as Petrobras, Eletrobras and Banco do Brasil, for example.

In the injunction of Ricardo Lewandowski, Minister of the STF, the privatization of public companies must go through the authorization of the legislature

The decision also includes subsidiaries and companies controlled by the state and also covers the public and municipal spheres of public administration. With this, in practice, the privatizations of state-owned public companies in the country are suspended.

Public companies have publicly traded shares and can sell shares on the stock exchange. The public administration, however, has more than 50% of the capital, thus keeping control of the company and its management.

Lewandowski made the decision in November 2011 by the National Federation of Staff Associations of the Federal Savings Bank (Fenaee) and the National Confederation of Financial Sector Workers (Contraf / Cut), challenging the direct action of unconstitutionality (ADI) of the state law (13,303 / 2016).

According to the Minister, "the sale of shares of state-owned companies, joint-stock companies or their subsidiaries or subsidiaries requires prior legislative authorization, whenever they take over the disposal of the control of the shares ". In the ruling, Lewandowski stated that he interpreted, in accordance with the Constitution, Article 29 of the state law, which provides for a waiver of bids for the sale of shares of public companies.

He determined that the waiver of the bidding appeal should only take place in the case of a sale of shares not involving a loss of control.

Lewandowski mentioned "a growing wave of destabilizations that take bodies at all levels of the Federation" to justify the urgency of the measure. For the minister, if privatizations are carried out "without strictly observing the provisions of the Constitution", this will result in "irreparable damage to the country".

Two other ADIs, opened by PCdoB and the state of Minas Gerais, also question the provisions of the law and are judged jointly by Lewandowski. The decision of Wednesday (27) is valid until the merits of the trials are judged in plenary session by the STF.

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