The Petrobras integrity system is a set of governance structures, standards, and management and control instruments aimed at preventing the materialization of compliance risks. Our integrity system is made up of the Compliance Program and the areas that work with compliance risks. It seeks to ensure a corporate environment of integrity for business, with transparency, ethics, and dialogue with our employees, partners and customers.

 

In December 2022, we launched our new Transparency Portal which, among several technological innovations, provides for integration with the Petrobras internal systems, allowing our managers to classify contracts and related documents as public so that they can be immediately made available to the external stakeholders.  Only those documents that may compromises Petrobras competitiveness in operating markets will be exempt from the rule, supported by the Law on Access to Information (Law No. 12,527/2011 – LAI) and applicable legislation.

 

REQUESTS FOR ACCESS TO INFORMATION (%)

 

Our risk management directs our integrity actions and strengthens our internal controls and governance. Our Corporate Risk Management Policy defines that this management is part of our commitment to act ethically and in compliance with the legal and regulatory requirements established in the jurisdictions where we operate.

 
We define compliance risks as those related to our integrity system, covering compliance with legislation and regulations applicable to our business and operations, compliance with internal policies and procedures, and compliance with values, ethical principles and guidelines for conduct. Each job we carry out is part of a macroprocess, that is, a group of activities focused on one of the company’s objectives. The Petrobras Value Chain is the integration between the macroprocesses of all areas, whether business macroprocesses, management macroprocesses and corporate services. The macroprocesses unfold into processes that are transversal to the company’s operations. Annually, we prepare and review the compliance risk matrix for the most exposed processes.

In 2022, 258 processes (100%) of the company were reassessed based on risk factors related to fraud and corruption.

We perform Integrity Due Diligence (DDI) of counterparties in order to know and assess the integrity risks inherent in our relationship with suppliers of goods and services; customers in the sale of oil products and oil; institutions in sponsorship projects and agreements related to Communication and Social Responsibility; parties to cooperation agreements and other types of agreements; shipowners and brokers; and companies interested in asset divestment processes and/or in corporate holdings, strategic and operational partnerships.

In 2022, the compliance team assigned 2,294 GRIs to our suppliers.

Also in relation to our suppliers, we have developed evaluation mechanisms that aim to guarantee that they have adequate technical, economic-financial, legal and HSE practices, in addition to having an ethical profile in their relationship with society and the environment.

In 2022, we evaluated 2,611 companies on technical grounds; 3,604 companies on economic and financial grounds; 10,122 companies regarding legal requirements; and 419 companies regarding HSE requirements.

The Integrity Background Check (BCI) is an integrity mechanism that seeks to support managers and senior management in decision-making regarding the nomination of candidates for key positions, through the analysis of legal requirements and compliance with our Code of Ethical Conduct and our Manager Appointment Policy. 

In 2022, we conducted 3,787 Integrity Background Check assessments.

 

We have several channels for receiving requests and complaints that allow greater transparency with our stakeholders and to provide adequate treatment. As examples, we can mention the Ombudsman’s Office, the Reporting Channel, Customer Service, Citizen Information Service, etc.

For statements classified as complaints, requests, compliments and suggestions, the Ombudsman’s Office works as a second reporting channel. In 2022, we received 3,205 complaints[1], according to percentages in the following chart: 

 

COMPLAINTS (%)

[1] The data considered in the survey refer to Petrobras and its subsidiaries. 

Our Reporting Channel is available by phone and on the website, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in three languages (Portuguese, English and Spanish) for the external and internal public of Petrobras and its subsidiaries. All information is received by a contracted, independent, and specialized company, which registers the report for due treatment by the Ombudsman’s Office. In 2022, we received 2,365 reports (33.9% by telephone, 60.3% via the website and 5.8% received by other means, such as a letter), which represents 1.5 reports for every 100 employees. 

For the safety of whistleblowers, who may choose to remain anonymous, the Ips of their computers are not shared, and their calls are not tracked.  In 2022, 74.8% of the reports were anonymous and 25.2% were identified. In addition, the treatment of reports preserves their secrecy and confidentiality, whether identified or anonymous. In situations where it is necessary to identify the whistleblower, as occurs in some cases of workplace violence, the treatment of the complaint continues only with their consent, always observing information privacy and confidentiality. 

 

REPORTS (%)

 

In April 2023, the company created a working group to review the internal procedures for receiving and handling sexual harassment complaints in response to complaints received and media reports. The multidisciplinary group worked daily to create the Petrobras Against Sexual Violence Program, which was approved by the Executive Board, and which includes improvements in prevention procedures, how we receive and treat reports, as well as immediate, medium and long-term implementation actions. 

The changes, such as the reduction in the period for completing the investigation (from up to 180 to 60 days), seek to prevent the occurrence of cases and provide more agility and reliability to the investigation of complaints, allowing more effective consequences to be applied in confirmed cases.

Upon receipt of the complaint, the need for immediate implementation of measures to avoid any contact between the accused and the person making the complaint will be analyzed. The entire process for investigating cases of sexual violence will be centralized in the Corporate Integrity area, and the team responsible for the investigation will be specialized, diverse and dedicated to handling this type of complaint. In addition, new training will be carried out for all teams involved in receiving and investigating complaints of sexual violence, among other actions provided for in the program.

 

In 2022, we applied 107 disciplinary measures to employees of different hierarchical levels at the Petrobras Parent Company, 22 contract terminations for just cause, 26 suspensions, and 59 written warnings.

The cases refer to misconduct such as non-compliance or omission of internal regulations, negligence in the performance of functions, insubordination, among others. 

Internal procedures executed by the appropriate areas in the company revealed no cases of corruption involving employees in 2022, as defined by article 317 of the Brazilian Penal Code.

It should be noted that pre-procedural investigations of facts that occurred prior to 2019 are ongoing, within the scope of the competent external bodies. On the other hand, in the legal realm, we received formal confirmation regarding twelve unappealable final court decisions, regarding charges made between 2014 and 2021, related to Operation Car Wash. In the criminal realm, in addition to the cases reported in the Operation Car Wash item, mentioned later on, our Legal Department is monitoring five lawsuits arising from the Dutch company SBM Offshore, two of which are split-offs and another six criminal proceedings involving corruption crimes. However, it is not possible to speak technically about confirmed cases, since there was no final judgment of these cases.  

We also had, within the scope of Administrative Liability Proceedings (PAR), 39 closed cases, of which 30 resulted in the liability of 41 corporate entities for the practice of harmful acts in Law 12.846/2013 (Corporate Anticorruption Law).

 

Regarding Operation Car Wash, we continue to cooperate with the authorities and take the necessary measures to recover the damage suffered as a victim of the committed irregularities. 

As reported since 2014 in our annual reports, Operation Car Wash, an investigation conducted by the Federal Police and the Federal Public Prosecution Office, has focused, since the beginning of its investigations, on irregularities involving suppliers of goods and services. This revealed undue payments to political parties, political agents, and others, including some of our former executives, who were arrested and/or indicted for money laundering and passive corruption.

In all criminal and administrative misconduct cases in which our former employees are defendants for acts related to corruption, we were recognized by the courts as a victim of the discovered irregularities; therefore, we act as an assistant to the prosecution, or one of the parties that presses charges, as the case may be.

As the investigations result in leniency agreements with the investigated companies or collaboration agreements with individuals who agree to return funds, we may be entitled to receive a portion of them. Thus, throughout the Operation Car Wash investigation, cash in the form of compensation for damages provided for in leniency agreements, collaboration agreements, and repatriations has been returned to us in the amount of approximately BRL 6.719 billion as of end of 2022. In 2021 alone, BRL 1.272 billion were returned and, in 2022, BRL 499 million, for the company.

In addition to recognizing our status as a victim, the Courts has been sentencing those accused of criminal acts to “minimal damage” (which offers the smallest amount of compensation for damages resulting from crimes), the value of which will be paid back to us. Such amounts will be charged to the defendants (individuals) by the Civil Court, but only after the respective criminal case has become final. At the end of 2022, these amounts totaled approximately BRL 1 billion, in addition to a dollar amount of over USD 145.59 million (since in some cases the amount of the sentence is presented in US dollars).