Hydrocarbon corruption: one complaint every eight hours against ANH and YPFB in Bolivia
The Bolivian Government intervenes in the ANH and YPFB amid control failures, dual pricing and fuel diversion. The hydrocarbon sector leads corruption complaints.
Intervention in ANH and YPFB exposes vulnerabilities in fuel control
The Bolivian Government identified serious failures in information systems, price discrepancies and possible fuel diversion networks as central axes of the intervention in the National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH), according to El Deber.
The Minister of Sustainable Production, Óscar Mario Justiniano, pointed out that one of the most critical problems detected is the disconnection between the ANH's computer systems and those of YPFB, which prevented precise tracking of the final destination of fuel distributed to petrol stations.
"Systems reached such a level of vulnerability that it was enough for a large consumer or a direct purchase to pay YPFB and YPFB would send the fuel," Justiniano stated. He explained that under that scheme, if a petrol station was sent 90,000 litres, the ANH could not verify whether that amount had actually been dispensed, transferred to a fleet or delivered to a producer.
According to the minister, that gap between systems constituted one of the principal vulnerabilities in fuel commercialisation and would have facilitated irregularities over years.
Dual pricing, hoarding and 40% decline in consumption
Added to the system disconnection is, according to Justiniano, the existence of a dual price for fuels. That difference generates an attractive margin for the illegal market and favours both hoarding and diversion towards informal circuits.
As evidence, the minister recalled that in January, when a single price was applied, recorded consumption fell 40% in the days immediately following. For Justiniano, that reduction indicates that a significant portion of fuel was being diverted outside the formal market.
Facing complaints from small producers about the volumes of fuel they would receive, the minister maintained that debate over quotas—whether 2,500, 5,000 or 100,000 litres—is secondary. The central objective, he said, is to guarantee that fuel actually reaches those who need it.
"Here we intervene in everything so that what is reconfigured goes to our producers, to the people, to the lorries, to the fleet; so that we all have supply because corruption, regrettably, is being charged to all the people who work and produce, benefiting very few," he stated.
One complaint every eight hours against ANH or YPFB
The Vice-Minister of Transparency, Yamil García, revealed that his office receives on average one complaint every eight hours against the ANH or YPFB, which makes the hydrocarbon sector the area with the greatest number of corruption complaints across the entire state apparatus.
"Of all the areas that have historically been focal points of corruption complaints, regrettably the hydrocarbon area ranks first in complained-about institutions," García stated. He indicated that, with that background, the Government opened anonymous and digital channels so that the public can continue submitting reports.
García further specified that several of those investigations have already been brought before the courts, with complaints, imputations and even formalised fiscal accusations. The intervention, according to the vice-minister, will allow direct access to that information to broaden cases and establish responsibility both for officials currently in office and for former officials.
Fuel transport contracts under scrutiny
Regarding contracts entered into with fuel transport companies, García clarified that these are the responsibility of YPFB and not the ANH, though he specified that every contract financed with public funds is subject to control and scrutiny.
The vice-minister stressed that the intervention will not be limited to identifying and prosecuting those responsible for possible acts of corruption, but will also aim to modify the structures that enable the repetition of those irregularities.
As a concrete measure, García advanced that, if complaints confirm traceability deficits in fuel distribution and commercialisation, the Government will propose the implementation of digital systems that allow the path of fuel to be made transparent throughout the country.
"If the complaint shows us that there is a lack of traceability in fuel commercialisation, in fuel distribution, beyond the prosecution which is necessary and we will do it, we will also propose the implementation of digital systems that can allow all Bolivians to know with absolute transparency how fuel is distributed," he explained.
Supply and investigation, in parallel
Justiniano assured that YPFB will continue operating during the intervention to guarantee supply to the internal market, whilst working in parallel on control mechanisms. The minister ruled out that the investigation would compromise daily fuel supply for fleets, minibuses and producers.
The intervention in the ANH and YPFB thus aims, according to the authorities, both to reconstruct fiscalisation mechanisms and to establish criminal liability for fuel diversion which, according to official data, has harmed the Bolivian population as a whole to the benefit of a small number of actors.
Source: El Deber