Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil and gas multinational,
provided sponsorship and support for 2,300 projects in Brazil last
year. In all, 554.8 million Brazilian reais (US$ 286 million) were
invested in the environmental, social, cultural and sports fields.
The information were culled from the company's Social and Environmental Balance, disclosed June 29. Petrobras is the leading sponsor of cultural and social projects in Brazil by means of public selection.
The projects can either be selected publicly or by invitation. In the social area, the bulk of investment from Petrobras focuses on the Development & Citizenship program, whose goal is to contribute to local, regional and national development, by promoting the insertion of people living in socially disadvantaged situations. The aim is to invest 1.3 billion reais (US$ 670 million) from 2007 to 2012.
Through public selection, the Development & Citizenship program has destined 27.5 million reais (US$ 14.1 million) to 72 different projects.
Contemplated projects included actions for generating income and job opportunities, professional training, and guaranteeing children and adolescents' rights. Petrobras provided the Fund for Childhood and Adolescence with a total of 48.5 million reais (US$ 25 million), to be distributed among 200 projects.
In the cultural field, Petrobras invested 206.8 million reais (US$ 106.6 million) and sponsored approximately 1,000 projects over the course of the year.
For the environmental field, the company selected a theme: "Water and climate: Contributions to sustainable development." In the public selection for this area in 2008, contemplating projects to be sponsored up to 2010, 47 initiatives were selected across the country, which will receive investment of 60 million reais (US$ 30.9 million).
In 2008, the company invested approximately 69 million reais (US$ 35.5 million) in sports projects, by means of the programs Petrobras High Performance Sports, which supports handball, surf, tennis, and football, and Petrobras Motor Sports, supporting competitions in categories such as rally, kart, truck, motorcycle, and prototypes.
Anba