Pedro Parente

Pedro Pullen Parente (born February 21, 1953, in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian engineer, politician, administrator, and former president of the state oil company Petrobras.

History

Born into a family with great political connections, Pedro Parente started his career in the public administration at 20 years old while studying to receive his bachelor's degree in electronic engineering. He was moved from the Bank of Brazil to the Ministry of Planning of Andrea Calabi, under request of his executive secretary João Sayad, to help create the Secretary of National Treasury. Years later, he worked in the governments of José Sarney and Fernando Collor de Mello until he played greater roles during the administration of Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

Under Cardoso's presidency, Parente was Chief of Staff from January 1, 1999, to January 1, 2003; Minister of Planning, Budget, and Management from May 6 to July 18, 1999; executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance; and also occupied the position of Minister of Mines and Energy in 2002. During that time he was known as "blackout minister", for being the coordinator of the crisis management team during the power outages that happened in that very year. He left the public administration for the private sector once Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came to office and was appointed as vice-president of the Brazilian media conglomerate RBS group until 2010, when he accepted the position of CEO and president of Bunge Brazil, one of the largest trading companies in the world, which made its sugar and alcohol productions assets available for sale to concentrate on more profitable operations in grains, seeds oils and processed foods.