Bolivia’s new leadership has pledged it would keep its existing lithium and oil and gas contracts, even those awarded to Russia and China under the previous leftist ruling, as La Paz looks to reassure investors that the signed deals would be respected. “Our contracts will be respected,” Bolivian Energy Minister Mauricio Medinaceli told Reuters, including deals signed by the previous government with Russia and China. Bolivia is estimated to hold more than a fifth of global lithium reserves. This pledge is a “first…