Zamora vows to “root out” corruption at Bolivia’s YPFB

Bolivia’s government has promised to “root out” corruption at YPFB after an initial investigation found vulnerabilities and irregularities across the state oil company’s fuel operations.

Public Works Minister Mauricio Zamora endorsed the intervention and said officials had already gathered preliminary reports for the next stage. He said the government had a work plan to regain control of fuel commercialization and guarantee supplies to the public.

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I am outraged by what is happening. These mafias, these structures surrounding commercialization, divert fuel so it does not reach citizens. We are going to root them out.

“I am outraged by what is happening. These mafias, these structures surrounding commercialization, divert fuel so it does not reach citizens. We are going to root them out,” Zamora said. He insisted that the intervention did not reflect improvisation, but followed a plan intended to produce concrete results.

The intervention commission includes representatives from the ministries of Economy, the Presidency, Hydrocarbons, Productive Development and Public Works, as well as Deputy Minister Yamil García. Zamora said his role was to defend the population and sectors affected by supply problems.

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We did not come here to improvise or to test solutions. We came with a work plan, and here we will deliver results to the population. You can be sure of that.

YPFB President Sebastián Daroca said the first investigative stage produced a report identifying risk factors and irregularities in fuel sales, logistics and distribution. An audit found more than 630 unauthorized remote accesses to YPFB systems. Officials removed those accesses and limited system entry to departments that need it for operations.

The review also found irregularities in fuel allocations to service stations and large consumers. YPFB began examining those allocations against historical data, although the provided account ends before detailing the findings.

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The systems were completely vulnerable. In the audit, we identified more than 630 remote accesses to the systems that should not have been authorized.