The South American country is recovering from a failed military coup against the government last week that was due, in part, to a growing economic crisis linked to years of declining oil and gas production that hit monetary reserves hard.

Bolivian state energy company YPFB is seeking to improve investment conditions in the country's oil and gas sector and is seeking help from Russia to overcome recent fuel shortages, said Armin Dorgathen, the company's director.

The South American country is recovering from a failed military coup against the government last week that was due, in part, to a growing economic crisis linked to years of declining oil and gas production that hit monetary reserves hard.

In an interview in Bolivia, just days after the failed June 26 coup attempt, Dorgathen admitted that political mistakes in recent years had scared away investors, harming production.

Gas production has halved from its peak a decade ago, while oil production is the lowest since the 1990s.

"We are working to attract financing from various parties and also looking for partners," Dorgathen said, citing problems with payments, legislation and regulation under the country's largely socialist leadership in recent years, which made it difficult for private companies to enter, a situation that YPFB was now trying to change.

"The industry was discouraged," he said. "Now we are also working with the partners we already have here in Bolivia: Repsol, TotalEnergies, Petrobras, so that additional investments can be made."

Declining national oil and gas production has been at the center of Bolivia's recent economic and political problems: the country was once a major gas exporter to neighbors such as Brazil, but the drop in production has affected the export revenues and has left the central bank's reserves almost depleted.

Protests related to a lack of dollars and long lines at gas stations have become increasingly common, fueling tensions and sparking infighting within the ruling socialist MAS party between President Luis Arce and former leader Evo Morales.

Dorgathen said that in the short term, the biggest energy problem is the shortage of gasoline, which has made imports more expensive. Bolivia imports half of the gasoline needed to satisfy domestic demand, which costs around $800 million a year.

He told Reuters the country was turning to more direct (and low-cost) purchases from producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and others through its new state-owned energy trading company, Botrading SA.

"Our goal through OPEC is to have access to cheaper fuel and improve supply," Dorgathen said.

The government was also seeking help from Russia, which is part of OPEC+, to facilitate fuel supplies. Russia has been hit by sanctions on energy exports due to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia's Lukoil delivered 366,000 barrels of diesel on June 19 to YPFB from the port of Vysotsk on the Baltic Sea.