Bolivian President thanks Putin for Russia's partnership

Thursday, June 6th 2024 - 19:50 UTC

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Broader talks are to be arranged for the near future regarding Russian-Bolivian cooperation, it was reported in St Petersburg

Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora held a meeting with his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin on the sides of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) during which both leaders agreed on joint undertakings in the South American country regarding lithium battery production in addition to discussing other bilateral topics of interest.

Arce said Russia was a “friendly government” for Bolivia and thanked Putin “for all the support we have received” in the past few years. “We also need to implement the project on the production of lithium-based batteries in Bolivia with a Russian company; we will work also in other spheres of cooperation between Russia and Bolivia. We have the rich agenda,” he also pointed out. “We are glad to share our experience, our projects, and dreams we will be able to implement jointly.”

Putin admitted that the partnership with Bolivia represented “a small volume in monetary terms” but with “good growth trends” as broader talks are to be arranged for the near future regarding Russian-Bolivian cooperation in the commercial, economic, cultural and humanitarian fields

“There are interesting areas of our cooperation, including in the field of high technology,” Putin pointed out. “Rosatom has a good program and is building nuclear research and technology centers in El Alto. Among those already put into operation is the largest radiopharmacological complex in Latin America,” he added according to a statement from the Kremlin.

Bolivia has one of the largest lithium reserves in the world, with an estimated 21 million tons, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 2022.

In December, Bolivia signed an agreement with Russia's Uranium One Group to build a semi-industrial pilot plant with Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology in the Uyuni salt flat to produce 14,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year.