ANP Revokes Refit’s Authorization to Operate

Overview

• The ANP voted unanimously on Friday to revoke Refit’s operating authorization, with directors Arthur Watt, Pietro Mendes, Symone Araújo, Daniel Maia and Fernando Moura supporting the decision.
• ANP officials said the decisive reason for revocation was the cancellation of the company’s CNPJ, Brazil’s federal tax ID that gives a firm legal standing to hold regulatory permits.
• Federal Police and Receita Federal investigations allege Refit built a multibillion‑reais ICMS evasion scheme by importing nearly‑finished fuel, mislabeling it as feedstock and simulating refining in a phantom Manguinhos unit.
• The Supreme Court has issued a preventive‑arrest decree for controller Ricardo Magro in Operation 'Sem Refino', and the MPRJ has asked a court to convert the company’s judicial recovery into bankruptcy because of an alleged fiscal debt above R$25 billion.
• Legal fights over director impartiality were temporarily resolved when the STJ allowed two contested ANP directors to vote, and next steps include insolvency hearings, continued criminal prosecutions and enforcement of the regulatory shutdown.