Government has been denying any change in the way the company readjusts gasoline and diesel.

In the same week that the government announced changes in the command of Petrobras, the state-owned company warned foreign investors that President Jair Bolsonaro could impose changes in the company’s pricing policy. This, according to the company, may occur through the imposition of “a new management team or Board of Directors”. The current rule considers the variations of the dollar and the barrel of oil in the international market.

Petrobras‘ manifestation is recorded in a form called the 20-F filed this Wednesday with the SEC, the US government agency responsible for regulating the stock market equivalent to the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM). Petrobras has shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, in addition to shares on the Brazilian Stock Exchange.

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The 20-F is a detailed form of the company’s balance sheet in 2021, when the company posted record profits of more than BRL 100 billion. Published on Wednesday by the SEC, the document was completed before the change of command of the company, announced on Monday by the government.

In a chapter called financial risks, Petrobras says that the company has adjusted its prices for oil and oil products from time to time, but that could change in the future.

“In the future, there may be periods during which our product prices will not be on par with international product prices. Actions and legislation imposed by the Brazilian government, as our controlling shareholder, may affect these pricing decisions. The Brazilian president has, at times, made statements about the need to modify and adjust our pricing policy to domestic conditions,” says the Petrobras text.

Bolsonaro frequently criticizes Petrobras’ pricing policy. The government, on the other hand, has always denied any change to this rule.

This week, Bolsonaro decided to fire retired general Joaquim Silva e Luna as president, replacing him with consultant Adriano Pires. The change came in the face of Bolsonaro’s dissatisfaction with the increase in fuel prices, less than three weeks after the company announced an 18% rise in gasoline and 25% in diesel oil.