Repsol
silent on subsidiary accused in Bolivia oil row
AFP
MADRID
Petroleumworld.com
03 14 06
Caught in a growing diplomatic row on alleged oil smuggling, the
Spanish energy group Repsol-YPF on Monday refused to comment on
the whereabouts of two officials from its Bolivian subsidiary
Andina who are wanted for questioning on the affair.
"We hope they will be able to make statements in conditions
of judicial and physical security," a Repsol spokesman said
in reference to Andina chairman Julio Gavito and top aide Pedro
Sanchez, against whom the Bolivian judiciary has issued an international
arrest warrant.
"We will not make any comment on their whereabouts,"
said the spokesman.
Two other Andina officials are wanted for questioning over the
affair which saw Bolivian police raid Andina's offices in the
city of Santa Cruz on Thursday, according to the same source.
Police broke into the firm's offices and confiscated information
related to their probe, but arrested no executives, charged Miguel
Cirbian, Andina's manager of foreign acquisitions, who described
the raid as "illegal".
Cirbian and Andina's judicial affairs representative, Selenita
Cespedes, are due to appear in court in connection with the case
on Tuesday.
The raid came shortly after Repsol-YPF had announced that a Santa
Cruz court had suspended the investigation ordered by local customs
authorities.
The company, which has operated in Bolivia since 1997, is accused
of smuggling 230,400 barrels of oil worth 9.4 million dollars.
Repsol insists it had passed to Bolivian authorities proof that
no tax fraud nor falsification of documents, a further accusation
levelled at Andina, has taken place.
The Spanish firm controls 26 percent of the country's gas reserves,
the largest in South America outside of Venezuela.
AFP
03 13 06
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved.
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