MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivia orders arrest of Repsol's local chief executive

Spain's Foreign Ministry has approached Bolivian authorities to express concern about the search and arrest warrant issued against the chief executive of energy giant Repsol YPF in that country.

The warrant is apparently related to accusations of fuel smuggling supposedly committed by the Spanish multinational. Diplomatic sources said that the Spanish Embassy in La Paz will convey to Bolivian authorities its conviction that the warrant issued by a Bolivian judge against the head of the oil company there "will do nothing to improve relations" between Spain and Bolivia.

The same sources added that the contact is being carried out "with the most absolute respect" for the independence of the Bolivian justice system.

Repsol said earlier this month that it is disturbed by recent criticism from the Bolivian government but will nevertheless undertake some $150 million worth of joint ventures with the Andean nation's state petroleum firm.

The news emerged from a meeting between Repsol's top man in Bolivia, Julio Gavito, and the president of state-owned YPFB, Jorge Alvarado.

Gavito made clear the unhappiness of Repsol YPF executives over Alvarado's recent comments to Spanish media about alleged fuel-smuggling by Repsol's Bolivian affiliate, Andina.

"I have insisted to president (Alvarado) that Repsol YPF wants to be YPFB's partner in developing Bolivia's hydrocarbons, and that that will be good for everyone ... but that among partners it's better not to attack each other," Gavito said.

In early February Andina presented its formal response to accusations by Bolivia's customs service that the firm used both pipelines and tanker trucks to smuggle fuel to Chile and Argentina during the 2004-2005 period.

Bolivian customs officials also charged Andina with falsifying export documents. Even before he was elected Bolivia's president, Evo Morales said in the Spanish daily ABC that Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero "should oblige" Repsol to increase the royalties it pays Bolivia to 50 percent.

He said that, because of the 16th-century conquest and subsequent exploitation, Spain "has a historic debt" to Bolivia.