Petrobras seeks deal on R$42bn Petros pension deficit - Valor International

After more than a year on hold, negotiations to resolve the multibillion-real deficits in two legacy pension plans managed by Petros, the retirement fund for Petrobras employees, are set to resume. The state-owned oil company said it had asked Brazil’s public spending watchdog, the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), to open a mediation process aimed at reaching an agreement with the fund and organizations representing workers and retirees.

The request was submitted on Monday (19). The two plans, known as the Petros Petrobras System Repactuated Plan (PPSP-R) and the Non-Repactuated Plan (PPSP-NR), have 52,000 participants and a combined deficit of R$42 billion. They are currently subject to deficit recovery plans. Petrobras, participants, and beneficiaries already receiving pension payments are making additional contributions equivalent to 17% to 20% of monthly gross pay and 30% of the 13th-month salary to cover deficits recorded in 2018, 2021, and 2022. The goal is to find a structural solution to the recovery plans and the related legal disputes.

Discussions over the deficits were first handled by a working group that concluded its work in May 2024 without reaching consensus. The next step was to submit the matter for mediation by the TCU. After several mobilizations by employees, Petrobras had committed to submitting the request to the court by February this year. The process stalled again, however, after the TCU ordered further inquiries into the negotiations on December 3 last year.

The proceedings began with a complaint filed with the TCU ombudsperson’s office, accompanied by a recording and the report of the working group that discussed the proposals. The complaint questioned whether Petrobras could assume the portion of the deficits that would otherwise be borne by participants and beneficiaries. According to sources, Petrobras chose to wait until the inquiry was completed.

In September this year, the court dismissed the complaint, finding it unfounded. In Ruling No. 2454/2026, the public spending watchdog concluded that there was no specific irregularity because the discussions had not resulted in an agreement, approval of a new plan, or a formal commitment by the oil giant to disburse funds. The court also said no formal proposal had been submitted to the National Superintendence of Complementary Pensions (Previc) or the Secretariat for Coordination and Governance of State-Owned Enterprises (Sest).

In its ruling, the TCU stressed that the law prevents state-owned companies from assuming extraordinary pension contributions without a corresponding contribution from participants, preserving the principle that both sides must contribute equally. Although it dismissed the case, the court authorized its technical staff to monitor any initiatives to restructure the plans. The dismissal cleared the way for Petrobras to submit its request for mediation.

According to Paulo César Martin, secretary for pension benefits, retirees, and social policies at the Unified Federation of Oil Workers (FUP), the parties have reached some consensus on the structure of a new plan to which participants would migrate, but nothing has been finalized. Unlike the existing defined-benefit plan, the new arrangement would be a defined-contribution plan and is expected to provide for lifetime payments, inflation adjustments, and a 13th-month payment.

Another proposal under discussion would require organizations currently suing Petrobras over the deficit recovery plans—including FUP, the National Federation of Oil Workers (FNP), the Petros Beneficiaries Association (Ambep) and the National Federation of Associations of Retirees, Pensioners and Amnesty Recipients of the Petrobras System (Fenaspe)—to drop their lawsuits in exchange for the company covering the plans’ deficits. Participants who have filed individual lawsuits would also have to join any potential agreement.

In its financial statements, Petrobras classifies R$10 billion in legal claims as having a remote chance of success and another R$13 billion as likely to succeed. “This would not be a handout from Petrobras to plan participants, because the company would benefit by removing this risk from its financial statements,” Martin emphasized.

The public spending watchdog said in response to a request for comment that it had not yet identified a formal consensual dispute-resolution proceeding on the matter. Petrobras confirmed that it submitted the request on Monday (19) and said it was awaiting the court’s response. In a statement, the company also stressed that no agreement had been reached in advance and that the current terms of the two plans remain unchanged.

According to the court, once formally registered, the request will be forwarded to the TCU’s Secretariat for External Control of Consensual Dispute Resolution and Conflict Prevention (SecexConsenso). The department will conduct a preliminary review to determine whether mediation can proceed. Its assessment will consider factors such as the court’s jurisdiction over the matter, the issue’s relevance and urgency, and the operational capacity to conduct the process.

If the request is accepted, a commission comprising representatives of the TCU and the parties involved will be established and given 90 days to complete its work, with a possible 30-day extension. Any consensus proposal will still need to be reviewed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office attached to the TCU and go through the court’s analysis and deliberation process, including a plenary vote. Previc, the federal agency responsible for supervising pension funds, told Valor it could take part in the mediation but had not been invited to join the group.

In a statement, Petros said it “has been participating and will continue to contribute technical expertise to efforts to find a solution to the deficit recovery plans for PPSP-R and PPSP-NR.” The fund said it “supports the use of the consensual dispute-resolution mechanisms” provided by the TCU, “as they offer an appropriate institutional setting for building consensus on complex issues that, in this case, involve pension, actuarial, and legal considerations.”

This article was translated from Valor Econômico using an artificial intelligence tool under the supervision of the Valor International editorial team to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to our editorial standards. Read our Editorial Principles.