How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

In a country like Bolivia, where political and regulatory volatility is not uncommon, managing legal risk requires more than technical knowledge — it demands strategic foresight, flexibility, and constant alignment with the evolving business landscape. At Petrobras Bolivia, our legal approach during times of instability is based on scenario planning, early stakeholder mapping, and proactive risk mitigation. This includes robust contractual frameworks that anticipate force majeure or regulatory change, maintaining open dialogue with authorities and local communities, and embedding legal contingency clauses that ensure operational continuity.

We align legal strategy with business resilience by working hand-in-hand with our operational, commercial, and corporate affairs teams. The goal is to act not only as legal advisors but as strategic partners who can translate uncertainty into structured responses. During times of crisis, the legal department becomes a hub for decision-making, ensuring legal integrity while enabling business agility. Our approach focuses on anticipating reputational, regulatory, and social license risks before they materialise.

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?

Recently, we have worked intensively on contractual policy adjustments to respond to inflationary conditions in a market with few competitive bidders. This has involved developing risk-sharing mechanisms and improving price-adjustment clauses to safeguard both project continuity and financial predictability.

We have also led negotiations and legal support for obtaining environmental licenses critical to the execution of upstream activities, where community expectations and regulatory complexity have significantly increased. Securing these licenses requires not only legal expertise, but also cultural sensitivity and multi-stakeholder dialogue.

One of the most relevant areas of focus has been the negotiation and execution of surface rights and servitude agreements for exploratory drilling activities. This is a process that involves complex coordination between landowners, indigenous and campesino communities, municipal governments, and national authorities. The challenge lies not only in the legal structuring but also in achieving legitimate social consent and long-term governance mechanisms.

Additionally, we have been deeply involved in the structuring and negotiation of high-complexity contracts for the reactivation of exploratory activity in Bolivia. A key focus has been to ensure contractual stability while maintaining enough flexibility to adapt to regulatory or market shifts.

What do you see as the major legal challenges for businesses in Bolivia over the next five years, and how are you preparing to address them?

Bolivia will likely face increasing legal uncertainty due to overlapping regulatory frameworks, political transitions, and growing social demands for participation and environmental protection. For the hydrocarbons sector, these pressures will be especially significant.

Another major challenge is navigating the tension between nationalisation rhetoric and the need to attract foreign investment. Legal departments will have to be increasingly creative in structuring risk-sharing mechanisms, ensuring investment protection under both Bolivian law and international treaties, and promoting regulatory stability through dialogue and legal reform.

In order to face that, we are preparing by strengthening compliance, engaging early with key stakeholders, and investing in legal talent capable of combining technical precision with contextual intelligence.