Although the Russian government primarily agreed to provide a credit line facility for fuel purchases from Russia, it is uncertain that it would success following the diplomatic spat created due the detain of an Aeroflot air craft, former Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga said.
Russian government has responded positively to a loan facility requested by Sri Lanka to obtain fuel for Sri Lanka, which is facing a foreign reserve crisis.
He also pointed out that this incident has caused some diplomatic tensions between Sri Lanka and Russia.
The former ambassador said that when Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was in office made a request to Russia at the diplomatic level with his own intervention regarding a US $ 500 million credit line for fuel importation.
He also said that despite the delays in the recent turmoil, we are still taking the necessary steps to obtain this loan facility.
Speaking to Lankasara, former Russian Ambassador Weeratunga said that the Russian government had agreed to proceed with the matter.
However, he said that with the situation that has arisen with the detention of Aeroflot, discussions on obtaining the fuel as well as the arrival of tourists from Russia, which is currently the largest tourist destination in Sri Lanka, may have to be abandoned.
Speaking further Udayanga Weeratunga said,
“We need to get the fuel we need on a loan basis right now. The reason is because of the huge foreign reserve crisis we are facing. I also intervened and recently requested the Russian government to obtain fuel on a loan concession. It was done to the Prime Minister of Russia. It had a good response. However, steps have been taken in this regard despite some setbacks in the recent past.
The Aeroflot crisis comes at a time when technical level negotiations on the loans are being prepared. Russian tourists are the only group that has brought much to the Sri Lankan tourism industry since the May 9 riots. Even after that incident, nearly 4,000 tourists have arrived in Sri Lanka. With this crisis, the expectations of them too have become somewhat uncertain, ”he said.
