Bolivia–Russia relations (russian: Российско-боливийские отношения) are the relations between the two countries,

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Russia has an

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

, and Bolivia has an embassy in Moscow.

Background

The

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

had established

diplomatic relations Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

with Bolivia on April 18, 1945.

Current

With Bolivia the focus on relations with Russia is mainly economic, as opposed to political and strategic, as an agreement to invest in Bolivia's

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

fields shows. It is seen to "help Latin America... s itexpands Latin America's economic opportunities, diversifies its relationships...that's healthy." In September 2008

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...

, the Russian energy company of which the state holds a controlling stake, signed an agreement worth US$4.5 billion to explore for gas in Bolivia. In December 2008, Russia invested US$4 million in a study on the Bolivian gas industry, with hopes of opening a joint Russian-Bolivian center on gas exploration sometime in 2009. In March 2009, Russia and Bolivia signed a protocol agreement aimed at strengthening democracy in each nation. In February 2009 President

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to co ...

visited Moscow. His trip was the first ever by a Bolivian head of state to the Russian capital. During the visit, both leaders signed an agreement strengthening energy and military ties between the two nations in addition to strengthening counter narcotics co-operation. In May 2009, Bolivia's Viceminister of Foreign Affairs said that Bolivia would be making a multimilliondollar arms and transportation purchase from Russia in efforts to combat drug smuggling and production in Bolivia. In October 2009, President Evo Morales announce the plans to construct a technical support and repair facility for Russian aircraft in Bolivia that would be built at a former U.S. base near the town of Chimore in the center of the country.

References

Bilateral relations of Russia {{Bilateralrelations-stub