MEXICO (Sputnik) — Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras made profit of 2.51 billion Brazilian reals (about $810 million) in the fourth quarter of 2016 as compared to its record loss of $10.2 billion in the same period in 2015, the company said in a statement.
According to the statement, a net debt of the company decreased by 20 percent to 314 billion of Brazilian reals in 2016.
At the end of 2015, the loss of Petrobras accounted for 34.8 billion reals.
Petrobras, which is at the center of a corruption scandal, is in the process of a large-scale restructuring to pay off its debts.
The company was headed by former Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff in 2003-2010, who faced popular discontent after the company’s corruption schemes were revealed in 2014. It transpired that several government functionaries had been signing contracts, charging 3 percent commission fee of the amount of the contract. The money received was used for bribing police and public officials.
