Refit refinery's Rio land auction could stay under company control

The 600,000‑square‑metre parcel owned by the Refinaria de Manguinhos (Refit) on Avenida Brasil in Rio de Janeiro is scheduled for a judicial auction on 9 September. The Federal Court set a minimum bid of R$ 11.7 million, less than half the judicial valuation of R$ 23.5 million, while Refit itself estimates the land could be worth over R$ 60 million.

Venture Tech, which leases part of the site, holds a contractual right of first refusal recorded in the property’s deed. Under the Brazilian Civil Code the company can match the highest offer, allowing it to acquire the land and keep the asset within the refinery’s sphere of influence. Venture Tech is linked indirectly to businessman Ricardo Magro, and its director since 2022 is Charles Cristiano Teixeira Valentim, who has publicly identified himself as part of Refit’s accounting team. The auction is intended to settle Refit’s federal debt, alongside billions of liabilities the refinery owes to the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.