(MENAFN- AFP) Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said Monday that she would fire top executives at state-owned oil giant Petrobras but keep the scandal-plagued firm's chief, Graca Foster.
"Graca is an ethical person. She told me that if this whole situation damaged the government or Petrobras, she would leave her post no problem. I told her that wasn't necessary," said Rousseff during a media breakfast at the presidential palace.
"I wanted Graca as CEO," the president added.
"I think she's facing a very difficult climate... but I'm not going to remove her because of that. Who wants to remove Graca Foster What's behind it Why would I interrupt this (investigative) process"
Investigators say some $4 billion were skimmed off inflated Petrobras contracts over the course of a decade and filtered to corrupt politicians, including from Rousseff's Workers' Party, which has governed Brazil since 2003.
So far, 39 people have been charged, including Paulo Roberto Costa, a former director of supplies at Petrobras who is cooperating with investigators as part of a plea bargain.
Petrobras is the biggest company in Brazil, the world's seventh-largest economy.
Foster said last week that she and her board of directors would all be probed as part of an independent audit into the accusations, vowing that investigators would "go into their closets, take a look at all their papers, take their computers, their iPhones, their iPads."
Foster had said that the entire board had Rousseff's trust, but the president said Monday she planned to shake up the top management team.
She gave no further details aside from saying that Foster would keep her job.
Rousseff also said it was still impossible to determine exactly how much money went missing from Petrobras coffers.
She said some allegations of the amounts involved were "absurd."
The massive scandal has combined with falling oil prices to batter the firm's stock price.
Rousseff brushed off concerns over sliding crude, saying "right now, we're not worried about oil prices."
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