Main points
- Peru is vulnerable to corruption risks, as exemplified by the Lava Jato scandal. These vulnerabilities can increase and be exploited in growing sectors like electromobility.
- There are significant governance and transparency challenges across the electromobility supply chain, particularly at the extraction stage. In Peru, weaknesses in concession processes, limited beneficial ownership disclosure, persistent illegal mining linked to the REINFO registry and emerging political dynamics that may weaken oversight can all create structural vulnerabilities. Although lithium extraction is not yet commercially developed at scale, its designation as a strategic resource and the growing global demand for copper linked to the energy transition may intensify investment pressures in a context of fragmented oversight. Mitigation measures should therefore prioritise responsible, transparent and traceable mining practices.
- In Peru, corruption risks in public procurement more broadly are high, with documented collusion schemes to distribute public work contracts and with public entities contracting providers already disqualified from contracting with the state.
- Public-private partnerships have shown corruption risks regarding the negotiation of addendums to their contracts. Some of these addendums are made without technical studies to support them, while others adjust the cost of the contract because the first phase of the bidding process lacked project studies. This has allowed for cases of “aggressive bidding”, where companies present very low-cost proposals and then renegotiate the terms of the contract once they are awarded the projects.
- A major corruption risk in the electricity sector is the phenomenon of revolving doors, which refers to the movement of individuals between public office, particularly in regulatory and legislative positions, and private companies. They can lead to the prioritisation of private gain over public interest and regulatory capture.
