BOLIVIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Jorge Inchauste and Rosario Echeverría, Dentons Guevara & Gutiérrez S.C.
• the approval of the lithium agreements by the Bolivian Legislative Assembly. Prior consultation with indigenous communities Among the main rights granted to indigenous communities by the Bolivian Constitution is the right to decide on the implementation of activities for the use and exploitation of natural resources in their territories. Regardless of whether or not they have obtained governmental permits, investors who intend to carry out activities of use or exploitation of nat - ural resources are obliged to carry out a prior consultation process with indigenous communi - ties before carrying out such activities, through appropriate procedures or in accordance with the procedures established by each community ( Consulta Previa ). Based on information compiled by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), there are currently: • 29 indigenous communities near the Salar de Uyuni; • three indigenous communities near the Salar de Lagunas Pastos Grandes; and • 32 indigenous communities near the Salar de Coipasa. Therefore, prior to the signing of any lithium agreement, it is mandatory that YLB and/or the investor conducts prior consultation with the indigenous communities living near the project site to be executed. During the first and second international ten - der processes, YLB has reported the initiation of prior consultation processes to carry out the projects being negotiated. Even though YLB has signed several preliminary agreements with various international companies, it is not yet
possible to determine the level of acceptance of these projects by the indigenous communi - ties living near the Bolivian salt flats. Since YLB has entered into a joint venture agreement with Uranium One Group, it is hoped that the latter already obtained the consent of the indigenous communities in the relevant area for the devel - opment of a direct lithium extraction plant in the Salar de Uyuni, although this has not been publicly disclosed or commented on by YLB or Uranium One. Legislative Approval Pursuant to the Bolivian Constitution, agree - ments of public interest on natural resources and strategic areas, entered into by the execu - tive body of the State, must be approved by the Legislative Assembly (Legislative Approval). Legislative Approval is a necessary requirement for the execution and validity of agreements on natural resources and strategic areas such as lithium. Consequently, until Legislative Approval is obtained, the agreements entered into by YLB cannot be enforced. It should be noted that, in mining and oil and gas matters, state entities have special regula - tions that govern the procedure applicable to the Legislative Approval. In mining matters, it is even possible to request a transitory authorisation to start the execution of mining projects while the Legislative Approval is being processed. Unfortunately, in the case of lithium, YLB has not issued a regulation that regulates the Legislative Approval of the agreements that are currently being negotiated, nor have any such agreements been approved so far. Therefore, it is not pos - sible to know the exact process or time it might take for Legislative Approval of lithium agree - ments.
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