23 Sep 2009 - by PreSalt.com - Source: Petrobras News
Petrobras managers spoke, during the eighth session of the CPI, held on Tuesday (09/22), about the company’s sponsorship area. Petrobras’ executive manager for Corporate Communications, Wilson Santarosa, presented his area, which is in charge not only of designing the corporate guidelines for the entire Petrobras System but also, in particular, of underpinning the image of an integrated energy company and of ensuring the uniformity of the communications throughout the group.
One of the issues Santarosa clarified was the amount of people who work in Petrobras’ communications areas, which includes units in Brazil, overseas, and in the several business areas. The executive manager explained 1150 people work in several communications areas. Of these, 440 are communication professionals, 85 of whom work at Corporate Communications, at the company’s main office.
Sponsorship area manager, Eliane Sarmento Costa, presented information about the cultural and sports sponsorships. She explained that the projects the company receives undergo technical analyses carried out by a team of 40 employees who assess, among others, the projects’ merit and consistency. From 2000 to August 2009, Petrobras received 21,000 sponsorship projects. Of these, 2,753 were hired, 2,600 of which in the cultural and 153 in the sports areas. She also stated that 26,000 projects were entered in the public ions.
"Sponsorships reinforce our reputation, potentialize our audiences’ identification with the company, reinforce our technological excellence, and favor our relationship with our audiences of interest," she said, emphasizing their importance for the Petrobras brand, which, in the past five years, has appreciated 440%.
Social Responsibility manager, Luís Fernando Nery, stressed all projects are assessed the same way, regardless of the proponent or of where it was delivered. The same principle that guides cultural and sports sponsorships also guides social and environmental responsibility, including project hiring, based on decree 2745/98.
According to Nery, through August 2009, Petrobras had received 26,175 socioenvironmental responsibility sponsorship projects. Of these, 952 were approved.
The manager explained that pursuant to the Brazilian legislation, the Federal Prosecutors’ Office is in charge of inspecting sponsorship resource use. Petrobras grants the certificates, which are submitted to the Presidency of the Republic’s Communications Department, and checks whether or not the project was executed and the counterparts fulfilled. All sponsorship data are published annually in the Company’s Social Balance.
One of the matters that came up during the session was Petrobras’ sponsorship of the Canecão, Brazil’s biggest concert hall. According to Santarosa, the sponsorship was granted on account of the excellent visibility it would afford and of a media return equivalent to R$25 million per year. In October 2008, after a request made by the Federal Prosecutors’ Office, the sponsorship was suspended due to social security debts Canecão’s owner had under a different business.
Santarosa denied political criteria are used to grant sponsorships. "We do not take political criteria into account, although we constantly receive requests from governors and members of the parliament to approve projects. The requests are legitimate and natural, but our criteria are solely technical."
Insofar as the so-called "Saint John celebrations" are concerned, Santarosa emphasized the importance of these events. “This is the main popular celebration in Brazil, and it brings together more people than the Rio de Janeiro Carnival does,” he said. He also explained the sponsorship requests are submitted to Petrobras by entities that are entitled to represent the city halls. The Company assesses the proposals technically.
Answering to senator Álvaro Dias (PSDB-PR), Santarosa clarified that all recommendations made by the Federal Court of Auditors regarding Petrobras’ advertising agreements were entirely complied with.
When questioned about the “Botinho” Project, a Fire Department initiative that trains children on Rio de Janeiro beaches, Nery mentioned the sponsorship began in 2002. The success achieved by the complementary education project, the purpose of which is to reduce school out rates, has been used as a model for fire departments in other states.
Santarosa emphasized that the investments in social responsibility are expected to double in the upcoming years. “With the pre-salt, Petrobras will double in size, and the same goes for our social investments,” he said.
The session was wrapped-up at 9:40 PM. The next meeting is scheduled for September 29 and will focus on deepwater oil exploration platforms.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
