Sri Lanka asks for help from Russia to import its fuel

Three-wheeler drivers line up to buy petrol due to fuel shortages, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 5, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte REUTERS - DINUKA LIYANAWATTE

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Sri Lanka, a bankrupt state since April and short of foreign currency, is still struggling to import essential products.

The sale of fuel, a product that has been rationed for months, has been suspended altogether.

The situation is such that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appeals directly to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

He wants his country to provide the fuel, but also the tourists who until last January came to spend their holidays on the island.

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Nothing seems to put an end

to the shortages that Sri Lanka has been suffering for months

.

And the executive's room for maneuver is shrinking day by day.

Now the IMF is demanding a debt restructuring plan and reforms, including an end to fuel subsidies, before coming to the rescue of the bankrupt country.

At the same time, for weeks, Sri Lankan delegations have been increasing trips abroad to negotiate the import of fuel, with stops in Qatar and Russia.

To facilitate transactions, the country opened its market to foreign oil companies for the first time in 60 years.

This Wednesday, the Sri Lankan president appealed directly to Vladimir Putin for his country to provide the fuel that the country urgently needs.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa also calls for the resumption of flights between the two countries, interrupted because of the temporary seizure by local justice of a plane from the Russian state company Aeroflotn following a financial dispute.

A request made " 

humbly 

" by the Sri Lankan presidency.

It must be said that before the crisis, Russia was by far the leading supplier of tourists to Sri Lanka.

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Had a very productive telecon with the #Russia President, Vladimir Putin.

While thanking him for all the support extended by his gvt to overcome the challenges of the past, I requested an offer of credit support to import fuel to #lka in defeating the current econ challenges.

— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) July 6, 2022

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