Brazilian mining company Vale was voted worst company in the world by the Public Eye Awards, known as the “Nobel” of global corporate shame. Created in 2000, the Public Eye is awarded annually to a company chosen by popular vote, in response to environmental, social and labor problems, during the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos.
BNDES is a Vale partner, with stock holdings that deliver veto power directly to the Brazilian State. Added to the block of resources controlled by pension funds, the Bank’s shares permit control of the capital. In addition to this, the company is considered a special client in the financial institution and has had several projects approved without the necessity of analysis customarily conducted by the Bank. Here is critique of former BNDES president, Carlos Lessa, on the subject.
In relation to the financing of the company, a significant portion is provided by the Brazilian state, not only in the availability of funds through ownership of company stock, but directly through BNDES loans. Just to give you an idea, in 2008, during the economic crisis, BNDES approved a line of credit of R $7.3 billion, at that point representing the largest volume of credit yet granted to a single company in a single transaction in the history of the bank. For Vale, it meant the financing of about 20% of total company investments. This year, Vale competed with the companies Barclays, Freeport, Samsung, Syngenta and Tepco for the prize organized by the Public Eye Awards. In the final days of voting, Vale and Japan’s TEPCO, responsible the Fukushima nuclear disaster, reversed their standings for first place in the competition, the Brazilian mining company winning on January 26 with 25,041 votes.
According to the organizations that nominated Vale for the 2012 Public Eye Award – the Articulação Internacional dos Atingidos pela Vale (International Network of People Affected by Vale), represented by the Brazilian organization Rede Justiça nos Trilhos (Justice on the Tracks Network – an organization of the activist group Plataforma BNDES) and the NGOs Amazon Watch and International Rivers (partners of the Xingu Alive Forever Movement, which fights against the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam), the fact that Vale is a multinational with a presence in 38 countries and impacts spread around the world increased the number of voters. As for the organizers of the award, Greenpeace Switzerland and Berne Declaration, the fact that in mid-2010 Vale joined the Norte Energia Consortium (responsible for the construction of Belo Monte) was a determining factor for its inclusion in the list of six finalists for this year’s Public Eye Award.
