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last mo.

Rio Cancels Refit’s State Registration as Push to Seize Refinery Site Moves Forward

Raising fiscal pressure on a company accused of large-scale tax evasion, the action has prompted state talks with federal ministers about taking control of the federally owned refinery land.

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Overview

  • The Rio de Janeiro finance department changed Refit’s state cadastral status to “impedida” on May 29 after the federal tax authority deactivated the company’s CNPJ, blocking the firm from issuing invoices or carrying out many commercial operations.
  • The state move follows a May 26 filing by the Public Ministry of Rio (Gaesf) asking a court to convert Refit’s long-running judicial recovery into bankruptcy because prosecutors say the company repeatedly failed to restructure and pay taxes.
  • Refit’s tax debts are vast: the state says the company owes R$14.3 billion in ICMS to Rio and the group’s total liabilities across Rio and São Paulo exceed R$30 billion, figures prosecutors cite to argue the recovery process failed.
  • Owner Ricardo Magro is subject to a preventive-arrest order from federal investigations and is reported to be at large after the Polícia Federal operation on May 15 that accused the group of tax fraud, asset concealment and other crimes.
  • Regulators have flagged broader risks: the ANP interdicted the site in 2025 citing signs it operated as a ‘ghost refinery’ that may have imported finished fuel to evade taxes and previous reports documented rising soil contamination near the facility.