Journalist George Lanata will deal with Lithium’s under-invoicing in the program “Journalism for All” aired by Channel 13 tomorrow at 10 pm. Previews of the program have been advertised as “theft of lithium” and speculated about “how and who” participate in the plot.
Thus, the dispute over the income of the province from the export of lithium reaches national television. Few days back it was learned that the Directorate General of Customs (DGA) has condemned the huge under-invoicing in the export of lithium by the Livent company operating in Catamarca. The maneuver was carried out through 403 export operations of a mineral whose value was declared to leave the country, which was up to a third of the comparison in that market—announced by other firms for similar products.
The maneuver was condemned by opposition deputy Alfredo Marchioli. Then, the Catamarca Collection Agency (ARCA) launched an investigation that discovered fraud.
Following the scandal, the Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP) set a reference price for lithium exports upon discovering a series of irregularities in the commercialization of lithium carbonate and other derivatives of the activity. The witness price for exports of this product to Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand was set at USD 53 per kg.
According to reports, opposition representatives participated in the making of the programme.
