A commission investigating alleged irregularities at Bolivia’s state-owned National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) denounced Thursday the diversion of 22 million liters of fuel in a single month, alongside multiple failures in control and oversight mechanisms.

Minister of Productive Development Óscar Mario Justiniano said the diverted fuel is valued at between 200 and 400 million pesos bolivianos and is equivalent to more than a full week of consumption for a highly productive department like Santa Cruz, which requires approximately three million liters daily.

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During a computer review carried out one week after the investigations began, authorities found nine types of critical vulnerabilities, including “backdoors” that allowed people outside the institution to enter without restrictions to impersonate officials, authorize illicit dispatches, or erase sanctions against fuel stations.

Among the most unusual cases exposed were the Santa Cruz municipality of San Ramón, where 30,000 liters of diesel disappeared inexplicably, and Puerto Paila in Cotoca, where 3,000 liters of gasoline were diverted through 28 invoices issued in the name of a single motorcycle. Those implicated in the latter case are already serving 30 days of preventive detention.

Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy Marcelo Blanco confirmed the scale of the diversion, warned that the B-SISA system was operating inactive at irregular stations, and said both external civilians and current and former officials will face criminal prosecution for stealing from the country under a zero-impunity policy.

Despite the situation, marked by fluctuations in supply and previous social protests, the Executive said that national supply is guaranteed through the optimization of oversight mechanisms.

Bolivia currently imports 60% of the gasoline and 95% of the diesel it consumes, requiring weekly spending of about 90 million dollars amid chronic shortages and long lines at gas stations since 2024.

The ANH was placed under government intervention on Sept. 4, one day after state oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) was also intervened. Both investigations will last 180 days, extendable by 90 additional days or subject to early conclusion if conditions are met, under decree 5699 issued during the mandate of right-wing President Rodrigo Paz.

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