• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

President of Sri Lanka Asks Putin to Help With Oil Shortage, Report Says

Sputnik News

20220630

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) - President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa has sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking for assistance in oil purchases, Sri Lankan newspaper The Daily Mirror reported on Thursday, citing a source close to the president's administration.

The two presidents are expected to have a telephone call in the near future to discuss the details of the deal and arrangements of a possible official visit by Rajapaksa to Moscow, the source was cited as saying.

Rajapaksa also reportedly plans to visit the United Arab Emirates to discuss fuel imports.

Sri Lanka's energy minister, Kanchana Wijesekera, announced on Monday that two cabinet ministers traveled to Russia for negotiations on fuel supplies. Later that day, the Sri Lankan authorities banned fuel sales to private individuals for two weeks, allowing refuel only to cars of essential services, such as doctors, police and firefighters.

Sri Lanka is experiencing the worst economic crisis in its independent history caused by a shortage of foreign currency due to a decline in tourism revenues during the pandemic. Many areas of Sri Lanka are badly lacking food and basic necessities and face power cuts due to a shortage of foreign currency for fuel imports.

In the middle of April, the Sri Lankan authorities declared default on external debt for an interim period in anticipation of restructuring these obligations in accordance with the IMF-supported economic restructuring program. The external debt of the island nation is estimated at $51 billion.

© Sputnik