Bolivia takes over REE's power grid assets

Bolivian President Evo Morales announced on May 1^st, 2012, the nationalisation of the assets held in Bolivia by Red Electrica de España (REE, the Spanish electricity transmission network operator), claiming that not enough investment had been made in the country's power grid. REE had been present in Bolivia since 2002, when it acquired the power grid operator TDE for $92m. Spain's government, which owns 20% of REE, has criticised this nationalisation, though Bolivia seems open to negotiating compensation for the more than $60m that REE invested in its Bolivian operations since 2002. This loss, which remains minor for REE (only 1.5% of its 2011 revenues), made the share fall by 3% in early trade; it follows Repsol's loss of YPD in Argentina and comes as a painful reminder that crisis-hit Spain is losing diplomatic clout after years in which Spanish companies expanded across the Americas, hailed as new conquistadors.