Economy & Business - April 2026

BOLIVIA | Head of state hydrocarbon company fired. On 30 March Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz replaced Yussef Akly, the president of state hydrocarbon company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) who had run the company since Paz took office in November 2025. Akly was replaced by Claudia Cronenbold, who has worked for over two decades at Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras, including as corporate manager in Bolivia since 2018 and corporate director in Colombia from 2009-2011. She was also general manager of YPFB’s pipeline company Transierra from 2011-2014, and chairwoman of the Bolivian hydrocarbon lobby Cámara Boliviana de Hidrocarburos y Energía from 2014-2020. “The country needs technical leadership and commitment,” Energy Minister Mauricio Medinaceli said at Cronenbold’s swearing-in ceremony. Her predecessor, Akly, had come under intense pressure over a fuel contamination scandal which has forced the government to negotiate with transport unions seeking compensation for engine damage.

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