MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivian Senate censures energy minister

Bolivia's opposition-controlled Senate passed a censure motion yesterday against the country's energy minister ? one of the architects of President Evo Morales' energy sector nationalization.

The vote forces Energy Minister Andres Soliz to present his resignation, though the decision on whether or not to accept it rests with Morales. Morales has backed Soliz in the face of the criticism from the rightist opposition.

The censure motion ? the first one passed against one of Morales' ministers since he took office in January ? criticizes Soliz for his handling of parts of the nationalization. It cites alleged corruption in state energy company YPFB, which under the nationalization takes a central role in the energy industry in Bolivia, which has South America's biggest natural gas reserves after Venezuela.

"The nationalization isn't a step forward, it's a step backward, while the corruption in YPFB remains unpunished in spite of the evidence," Carlos Bohrt, a senator with the rightist Podemos party, told reporters.

Soliz himself has accused YPFB's president of fraud in relation to a barter deal to swap crude oil for diesel with Brazilian company Iberoamerica at a price below market value.

The implementation of the energy nationalization, which was a key election pledge of leftist Morales, has been delayed as YPFB struggles to take control of the industry.

Soliz responded to the criticism by saying the government will meet its six-month deadline to sign new operating contracts with foreign oil companies active in the impoverished country. It aims to sign the new contracts by the end of October.

"These contracts will consolidate what is the nationalization's biggest achievement ? the recovery of state control over all gas and oil production," he said.

Under the May nationalization decree, control of production was handed to YPFB and company profits sharply cut. Foreign oil companies, which include Spain's Repsol YPF and Brazil's Petrobras, were given 180 days to renegotiate