In an interview with Lenta.ru, he expressed the opinion that if Russia buys or leases lithium deposits in Bolivia, this will not make developed economies dependent.
“I cannot share Die Welt's fears for the reason that lithium is a fairly new metal for industries, and accordingly, there has not been a full-scale exploration in the world.
I am sure that over time, no less large deposits will be discovered in Africa, Russia, the USA, China and Bolivia may cease to be a key raw material country.
In addition, Bolivia does not concession all of its lithium reserves to one party, which is also a barrier to the emergence of a monopoly on the world market,” Demidov said.
Earlier, Die Welt published an article stating that Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing a new “raw material trap” for Western countries with the help of Bolivia.
The author of the article drew attention to the fact that Bolivia has the largest lithium deposits in the world.
According to the journalist, the country is looking for business partners who could help it extract raw materials widely used in the production of electric vehicles.
He expressed confidence that Russia is one of the main contenders.