Odebrecht

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Odebrecht Organization
Privately held company
Industry Conglomerate
Founded 1944
Founders Norberto Odebrecht
Headquarters Salvador, Brazil
Key people
 Marcelo Odebrecht, (CEO)
Products Construction, Engineering, Aerospace, Environmental Engineering, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, Utilities, Ethanol, Real estate, Infrastructure, Defense, Transportation, and others
Revenue Increase US$ 31.0 billion (2014)
Increase US$ 207.6 million (2013)
Number of employees
 181,000[1]
Subsidiaries Construtora Norberto Odebrecht
Odebrecht Oil and Gas
Foz do Brasil
Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias
Odebrecht Infraestrutura
Odebrecht Agroindustrial,
Braskem,
Odebrecht Administradora E Corretora De Seguros
Odeprev Odebrecht Previdência
Odebrecht Foundation,
Mectron
Odebrecht Energia
Website www.odebrecht.com.br

Odebrecht Organization (Brazilian Portuguese: [odɛˈbɾɛ(t͡)ʃ]) is a Brazilian conglomerate consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company was founded in 1944 in Salvador da Bahia by Norberto Odebrecht, and is now present in South America, Central America, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Its leading company is Norberto Odebrecht Construtora.[2]

Odebrecht S.A. is a holding company for Construtora Norberto Odebrecht S.A., the biggest engineering and contracting company in Latin America, and Braskem S.A., the largest petrochemicals producer in Latin America and one of Brazil's five largest private-sector manufacturing companies. Odebrecht controls Braskem, the fifth largest petrochemical company in the world, with exports to 60 countries in all continents of the world. By revenue, Braskem is the fourth largest petrochemical company in the Americas and the seventeenth in the world.

On 19 June 2015, Brazilian authorities arrested the CEO, Marcelo Odebrecht, in connection with their ongoing probe into bribes paid by the Brazilian oil giant, Petrobras.[3] On 7 March 2016 he was sentenced to 19 years and 4 months jail, for paying over US$30 million in bribes to executives of Petrobras, in exchange for contracts and influence.[4][5]

Timeline[edit]

  • 1944–1945: Norberto Odebrecht establishes a privately owned firm, the founding milestone for the Odebrecht Group. The firm becomes Norberto Odebrecht Construtora Ltda.
  • 1957–1965: Norberto Odebrecht pays off all debts owned by Emílio Odebrecht & Cia (his father’s company). The company changes its name to Construtora Norberto Odebrecht S.A.
  • 1970–1973: The Odebrecht Foundation is created, focusing on providing social security benefits to Odebrecht employees. Also, Odebrecht undertakes major construction projects in the southeast of Brazil.
  • 1979–1980: Odebrecht goes international and starts to diversify its business. CBPO merges with the Odebrecht Group.
  • 1981: Odebrecht S.A. is created.
  • 1990: Odebrecht enters the U.S. market and becomes the first Brazilian contractor to win a U.S. federal government contract.
  • 1999: Odebrecht focuses on sustainable development of micro regions in Brazil’s northeast, and marks 40 years of contributions to Brazilian art and culture.
  • 2000: Odebrecht is ranked as Latin America's top engineering and construction company and one of the world's 30 largest service exporters by Engineering News-Record.
  • 2002: Odebrecht establishes Braskem as Latin America’s largest petrochemical producer. The group reaches the milestones of 1,000 members within 25 years of service.
  • 2004–2007: The Odebrecht Group celebrates its 60th anniversary. Odebrecht Agroindustrial is established to produce sugar ethanol, sugar and energy.

Corporate structures[edit]

  • Odebrecht Energia (energy) – Invests, constructs and manages projects in the Latin American electric sector, such as hydroelectric, thermoelectric and nuclear power plants. Emphasis is made on projects in Brazil, Peru and Colombia.
  • Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial (industrial engineering) – Constructs and assembles industrial facilities in Brazil and abroad, serving clients from a range of different sectors.
  • Odebrecht Infraestrutura (infrastructure) – Completes important projects in the transport, sanitation, sports arena and irrigation sectors in Brazil.
  • Odebrecht América Latina & Angola (Latin America and Angola) – Leads investments and construction projects in regions that served as the pioneers for Odebrecht’s international expansion.
  • Odebrecht Venezuela – Invests and completes projects in the infrastructure, real estate, industrial, oil and gas, petrochemical and food security sectors in the country.
  • Odebrecht International – Gathers Members of 65 different nationalities, maintaining a unique quality standard and respecting the unique characteristics of each region.
  • Odebrecht Óleo e Gás S.A. (oil and gas) – Explores and produces oil and gas fields, operates rigs and provides integrated services for other companies from the sector.
  • Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias S.A. (real estate developments) – Develops residential, business, commercial and tourism ventures.
  • Foz do Brasil S.A. – Provides water supply and waste treatment services.
  • Odebrecht Agroindustrial S.A. – Produces alcohol fuel (ethanol), electricity and sugar using sugarcane.
  • Brasken S.A. – Produces raw materials in an integrated fashion, including ethane, propane and chlorine, as well as second-generation petrochemical products, such as thermoplastic resins.
  • Odebrecht Participações e Investimentos – Leads the company’s operations in diversified infrastructure sectors, investing in transportation and logistics, energy, sports arenas and irrigation.
  • Odebrecht Administradora e Corretora de Seguros Ltda. – Protects the assets of shareholders by identifying, mitigating and managing risks.
  • Odeprev – Designs and operates supplementary pension plans for Odebrecht Organization members, preparing them for retirement.
  • Fundação Odebrecht (foundation) – Promotes youths’ education for life, through work and for values, as well as the sustainable development of productive chains.

Legal problems[edit]

For more details on this topic, see Operation Car Wash.

In February 2016, amidst the Peruvian Presidential Race, a report from the Brazilian Federal Police, implicated Peruvian President Ollanta Humala as recipient of bribes from Odebrecht in exchange of assigned public works. President Humala rejected the implication and has avoided any confrontation with the Media on that matter.[9][10]

On 4 March 2016, former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was detained and questioned for three hours as part of a huge fraud inquiry into the state oil company Petrobras. The former president's house was raided by federal police agents and he was brought in for questioning. Lula, who left office in 2011, has denied allegations of corruption. The long-running inquiry, known as Operation Car Wash, is probing accusations of corruption and money laundering at Petrobras. Dozens of executives and politicians have been arrested or are under investigation on suspicion of overcharging contracts with Petrobras and using part of the money to pay for bribes and electoral campaigns. Police said they had evidence that Lula, 70, received illicit benefits from the kickback scheme. Lula's institute said in a statement the "violence" against the former president was "arbitrary, illegal and unjustifiable", as he had been co-operating with the investigations. [11]

Other politicians involved[edit]

Rankings[edit]

2009 Engineering News-Record magazine rankings
  • No. 18 The Top 225 International Contractors
  • No. 34 The Top 225 Global Contractors
  • No. 1 Hydro Plants
  • No. 4 Sewerage and Solid Waste
  • No. 4 Water Supply
  • No. 1 Sanitary and Storm Sewers
  • No. 5 Pipelines
  • No. 5 Water Treatment and Desalinization
  • No. 12 Transportation
  • No. 5 Bridges
  • No. 7 Highways
  • No. 9 Mass Transit
  • No. 6 Airports

Notable projects[edit]

USA
Peru

References[edit]

  1. ^ About the Group. odebrecht.com. retrieved 7 April 2015
  2. ^ http://www.odebrecht.com.br/en/odebrecht-organizations/corporate-structure
  3. ^ "Brazil Arrests Head of Odebrecht in Petrobras Scandal". The New York Times. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2016. 
  4. ^ Fonseca, Pedro (8 March 2016). "Former Odebrecht CEO sentenced in Brazil kickback case". Reuters. Retrieved 8 March 2016. 
  5. ^ "Brazil Petrobras scandal: Tycoon Marcelo Odebrecht jailed". BBC. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016. 
  6. ^ Jelmayer, Rogerio (2015-04-15). "Brazil Police Arrest Workers' Party Treasurer Joao Vaccari Neto". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 August 2015. 
  7. ^ MAGALHAES, LUCIANA (3 August 2015). "Brazilian Police Arrest José Dirceu, Ex-Chief of Staff, in Petrobras Probe". WSJ. Retrieved 9 September 2015. 
  8. ^ Romero, Simon (2015-08-21). "Expanding Web of Scandal in Brazil Threatens Further Upheaval". New York Times. Retrieved 9 September 2015. 
  9. ^ Leahy, Joe. "Peru president rejects link to Petrobras scandal". FT.com. Financial Times. Retrieved 24 February 2016. 
  10. ^ Post, Colin. "Peru: Ollanta Humala implicated in Brazil's Carwash scandal". www.perureports.com. Retrieved 23 February 2016. 
  11. ^ "Brazil Petrobras scandal: Former president Lula questioned". BBC News. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016. 
  12. ^ Collyns, Dan (2017-02-10). "Peru ex-president Alejandro Toledo faces arrest on bribery charges". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-02-11. 
  13. ^ "Colombia Ex-Minister Accepts Charges in Odebrecht Fraud Scandal". Telesur. 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-02-11. 
  14. ^ "Óscar Zuluaga será investigado por vínculo con Odebretch". Telesur (in Spanish). 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-11. 
  15. ^ "Jefe de Inteligencia de Macri recibió $600.000 de Odebrecht". Telesur (in Spanish). 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2017-02-11. 

External links[edit]

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