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Bolivia's Morales replaces head of state oil firm

Posted on: Monday, 28 August 2006, 17:27 CDT

LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - President Evo Morales on Monday replaced the head of Bolivia's state oil company YPFB, who had faced accusations of corruption months after he was appointed to the post.

The Bolivian leader named Juan Carlos Ortiz, a top YPFB official, to take over from Jorge Alvarado. Ortiz previously worked for foreign energy companies including Brazil's Petrobras, the biggest investor in Bolivia's gas and oil industry, analysts said.

The corruption scandal has tarnished the nationalization drive by Morales, who took office pledging to spread the country's natural gas riches among the impoverished majority and stamp out graft.

Last week, Energy Minister Andres Soliz accused Alvarado of fraud over a barter deal to exchange crude oil for diesel with Brazilian company Iberoamerica at a price well under the market value.

Along with Soliz, Alvarado was one of the most public faces of the nationalization of the energy sector announced by Morales on May 1.

Alvarado, a geologist and former deputy for Morales' MAS party, was appointed to the helm of YPFB soon after the government took office in Januay and charged with putting the dilapidated energy company at the heart of the sector.

Bolivia has the second-largest natural gas reserves in South America after Venezuela.

Source: REUTERS

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