Brazilian Businessman Commits Suicide in Front of Governor of Sergipe State

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A businessman in the ceramics sector shot himself in the head in front of the governor of Sergipe, Belivaldo Chagas, and the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, during the opening of a seminar on the natural gas market that would take place in Aracaju from Thursday, July 4th.

According to reports from people who witnessed the suicide, businessman Sadi Gitz stood up after the governor’s speech, threatened to say a few words and killed himself. Sources from the state government reported that the businessman owned a ceramic tile factory that was having its activities suspended because of the high price of gas. He was broke because of this.

Cerâmica Escurial had been facing difficulties for some time and is currently in judicial recovery. The company started using prepaid natural gas, and approximately two months ago closed down its activities due to lack of cash.

Belivaldo Chagas lamented the death of the businessman and said: “Life goes on.” Before he killed himself, Gitz called the governor a liar. Belivaldo held Petrobrás responsible for the gas prices charged by Sergas.

The Sergipe state government lamented the incident on social media and advised that the event was canceled: “The Sergipe state government regrets the incident with businessman Sadi Gitz, of Cerâmica Escurial, who committed suicide during the event. Because of the incident, the Opportunities Symposium for the new natural gas setting in Sergipe is now canceled.”

In May of this year, businessman Sadi Gitz, 70 years old, decided to suspend the activities of Cerâmica Escurial coating factory and, in a press release, blamed the state government for the drastic measure.

“The decisive motive for this decision was the price of the gas charged by Sergas, a company of the Sergipe state government,” he said. As a result, 200 direct and 400 indirect jobs were lost.

Sadi Gitz had challenged Sergas in court for the price he considered abusive, including a “claim for damages”.

The businessman stated in May that “the loss of revenue from taxes and reduction of the business environment, are facts that overlap any theoretical and political discourse. No company or entrepreneur is happy to hibernate, move or relocate a unit, but operational conditions only exist if there is a real policy of encouraging productive activity.”

The businessman was born in Porto Alegre and came to the state of Sergipe in the 1980s. In 1993, he founded Cerâmica Escurial, in the Industrial District of Nossa Senhora do Socorro, metropolitan region of Aracaju. In 2014, Escurial experienced its best financial period and invested R$70 million (US$17.5 million).

Gitz even held positions in the Aracaju mayorltyl: he was municipal superintendent of transportation and traffic and the Municipal Urbanism Company (Emurb). He was also president of the Commercial and Business Association of Sergipe (Ascese).