RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazil's state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro
SA said Friday that it has nominated the chief executive of mining
giant Vale SA, Murilo Ferreira, as its next board chairman, as the
company scrambles to deal with the fallout from a vast corruption
scandal.
Mr. Ferreira's nomination will be voted on at Petrobras' next
shareholders meeting on April 29.
On Thursday Petrobras said it had appointed Luciano Coutinho,
head of the country's development bank, as its new chairman, but
didn't make clear that the appointment would be on an interim
basis. Petrobras' previous chairman was Guido Mantega, Brazil's
former finance minister and a close ally of President Dilma
Rousseff.
Mr. Ferreira has been the chief executive at Vale, the world's
biggest iron-ore producer, since 2011, and has spent his entire
career at the company. A Vale spokesperson declined to comment.
Mr. Ferriera steps into the role of Petrobras chairman at a
crucial time for the company. It is in the midst of a widespread
corruption scandal in which four former executives are accused of
participating in a yearslong bribery scheme. The scandal has
pummeled the company's market value, caused a shake-up of its
executive ranks, and forced it to scale back an ambitious spending
program.
Dozens of politicians and construction company executives have
also been implicated in the scheme. Some have denied wrongdoing,
others have said they are cooperating with authorities, while some
have declined to comment.
The fallout from the Petrobras scandal has also contributed to a
dismal overall economic picture for Brazil. Thousands of workers in
the oil industry have been laid off in recent months, adding to a
bleak unemployment picture here.
Write to Will Connors at william.connors@wsj.com
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