Page Seven / La Paz
Bolivia exported gold for 1,739.8 million dollars until September, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), but the metal also comes out by smuggling, as denounced from Chile and where its authorities carry out constant operations.
Sales already exceed those of natural gas, but experts demand greater control at the exit.
The exported value exceeds last year’s figures by 123.5% and equals those of 2019. In 2018, 1,190 million dollars were sold abroad, according to data from the INE.
The Ministry of Economy, in the Memory of the Bolivian Economy 2020, points out that last year the amount of metallic gold decreased by 43.9%.
6,070 tons were shipped to the United Arab Emirates, a volume lower than the 22,895 tons exported in 2019. India demanded 15,964 tons, 26.2% less than in 2019.
Both countries are characterized by importing metallic gold for the production of jewelry, a sector affected by the covid pandemic and the sharp rise in the price of the metal, says the Ministry of Economy.
Royalties
However, in the first semester, the royalties produced by the exploitation of gold barely left 27 million dollars, reveals the Ministry of Mining.
As of June, 16 tons were exported for a value of 939 million dollars and the value increased as a result of the increase in prices of the metal in the international market.
Most of the gold production is in the hands of cooperatives, which paid 63.2% of this value, private companies 5.1% and the State only 0.14%.
Operations in Chile
On October 2, it became known in Chile that the operation called “King Midas” allowed the Investigative Police to arrest 35 people nationwide, of which five have residence in the Coquimbo region, accused of forming a criminal organization dedicated to the smuggling and illegal extraction of gold from Peru and Bolivia, to later export it to Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, according to the newspaper El Día of that country.
On Monday, in Quillagua, Chile, a Bolivian citizen was arrested when he tried to enter that territory with three ingots and 169 gold rings valued at just over $ 347,000.
The analyst Carlos Sandy said that the controls on the outflow of gold are weak and the exploitation is concentrated in the cooperatives in La Paz and Pando, which pay little in royalties compared to the tons extracted.
“It is preferred to smuggle gold to Brazil, Peru and Chile, even in bullion. Complaints have been around for a long time, the State must control the gold that leaves the country, ”said Sandy.
Former Mining Minister Dionisio Garzón said Tuesday that there must be stricter control throughout the chain, from the gold production area, so that in this way the commercialization begins to be legalized in the country.
Illegal departure
In March of this year, the Government of La Paz denounced the illegal export of almost three tons of gold that were taken by the trading company Katari Gold in 2020 without the payment of royalties and other obligations. The gross sales value amounted to 1,017 million bolivianos and the company stopped paying 25.4 million in royalties.
In June, it was reported that 331 kilos of gold that were seized from the importer GoldShine, in December 2020, valued at 18 million dollars disappeared from the deposits that the firm offered to protect the metal at the request of prosecutors and Senarecom.
- Metal figures
- Sale The export of gold for 1,739 million dollars to September exceeded those of the sale of gas, which only reached 1,654.4 million dollars, according to the INE.
- Report According to data from the Mining Ministry, the department of La Paz increased its income from mining royalties by 164% until June thanks to the increase in the price of gold, which encouraged greater exploitation of the metal. The municipalities most benefited with these resources are; Guanay, Colquiri, Mapiri, Sorata, Pelechuco, Irupana, Tacacoma and Coroico, regions with gold reserves.
1,017
millions
was the gross value of the illegal export
three tons of gold
without paying royalties in 2020.
