Around 13,000 people affected by the B1 dam collapse in Brumadinho and by the removals carried out as a result of the increase in the emergency level of dams have already entered into indemnity agreements with Vale. Added together, the agreements signed exceed the value of R$ 3 billion. The advance of indemnities reflects Vale's commitment to completing the indemnification processes and promoting full reparation.

Among the family members of deceased workers, more than 1,700 people have already closed indemnity agreements, with amounts totaling more than R$ 1.1 billion. All employees, whether Vale’s or outsourced, killed in the B1 collapse, already had at least one family member with an agreement signed.
In total, more than 6,500 agreements were signed, of which 5,100 were civil, covering more than 10,400 people and 1,400 labor agreements, involving around 2,400 people. 

So that people can close their extrajudicial indemnity agreements with more agility and equality, a Commitment Agreement was signed between Vale and the Public Defender's Office of Minas Gerais, for cases of civil indemnities. In the labor sphere, indemnities are paid after adherence to agreements signed with the Public Labor Prosecution Office and trade union entities. These commitment agreements serve as a parameter for indemnities, providing for amounts, conditions and criteria, and allow affected people to voluntarily negotiate their indemnities. 

Post-indemnity support

In addition to the financial aspect, indemnified people, who so wish, have free access to psychosocial support, financial education, technical support for the purchase of property or for micro-entrepreneurship and agricultural activities. Offered since July 2019 by Vale to help plan for the future, the Programa de Assistência Integral ao Atingido [Comprehensive Assistance Program for the Affected People] has already served around 4,000 people.

Flavia Lerman is one of the program participants. After receiving compensation for the preventive removal, carried out in 2019, in Macacos, district of Nova Lima, in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, she had the support of financial advisors to better manage the amount received and with the support of a lawyer and architect to choose and buy her new property. 

“This program helped me organize my financial life. In eight meetings, I learned to save and invest. It also helped in the purchase of my property, with an architect's inspection and a lawyer's evaluation, ensuring that I was safe when acquiring it, without problems in the future”, says Flavia.