Myanmar has positioned itself as Russia’s most uncritical post-invasion partner in Asia and both countries are now gearing up for tighter economic and trade ties.
Military-ruled Myanmar has announced to import Russian petrol and fuel oil to ease supply concerns and rising prices, amid a global energy crisis.
Myanmar has maintained friendly ties with Russia. Both Myanmar and Russia face sanctions from West. While Myanmar faces sanctions for military coup, Russia is facing sanctions for invasion of Ukraine.
Myanmar’s military coup relates to February 1, 2021, when Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected members of Myanmar’s ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Myanmar’s military – Tatmadaw. It proclaimed a year-long state of emergency and declared power had been vested in Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services – Min Aung Hlaing. It declared the results of the November 2020 general election invalid and stated its intent to hold a new election at the end of the state of emergency.
In addition to political turmoil and civil unrest, Myanmar has been hit hard by high fuel prices and power cuts, leading its military leadership to turn to imports of fuel oil that can be used in power plants. Petrol prices have surged about 350% since the coup in February 2021 to 2,300-2,700 kyat (about U.S. $ 1) per litre (0.26 gallons).
The Military Spokesperson for Myanmar – Zaw Min Tun said that they have received permission to import petrol from Russia. The fuel oil shipments are due to start arriving from September 2022. He also said that the Army Chief – Senior General Min Aung Hlaing discussed oil and gas during a trip to Russia last month. Myanmar would consider joint oil exploration in Myanmar with Russia and China. Russia is also eying to tap newer customers for its energy offerings as its biggest client Europe has announced plans to reduce dependency on Russian energy.
The Myanmar Military has set up a Russian oil purchasing committee headed by a close ally of Min Aung Hlaing to oversee the buying, importing and transport of fuel at reasonable prices. Last week, several petrol stations had to shut down in various parts of the country because of fuel shortage. Separately, Russia is also a major supplier of weapons to the Myanmar military.
Earlier this month, the Foreign Minister of Russia – Sergey Lavrov visited Myanmar and met the military leaders where they discussed security and economic issues. Lavrov said the 2 nations had cooperated in a wide range of areas on the basis of a partnership which was not affected by any opportunistic processes.
Myanmar has positioned itself as Russia’s most uncritical post-invasion partner in Asia and both countries are now gearing up for tighter economic and trade ties.
