Brazil's Petrobras and Odebrecht to reduce costs

SAO PAULO (AP) - Two Brazilian companies ensnared in massive corruption investigation say they plan to cut billions of dollars in costs or sell off assets.

State-run oil company Petrobras says in a Friday statement that it has approved a voluntary layoff program to reduce its workforce by about 12,000 and save 33 billion reals (about $9.20 billion) by 2020.

In an interview published Friday by the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, the head of the Odebrecht construction company says it has put assets up for sale to raise R$12 billion (US$ 3.3 billion).

Newton de Souza became president in 2015 after former chief executive Marcelo Odebrecht was arrested. In early March he was sentenced to 19 years in prison on charges of corruption and money laundering.