ST PETERSBUR (Reuters): Russia signed an investment agreement with Myanmar on Friday that it said could open up new opportunities for Russian energy companies in the south Asian country.
"We especially note the readiness of the Myanmar side to attract Russian companies to the development of offshore oil and gas fields," Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said after signing the agreement in St Petersburg with Kan Zaw, Myanmar's minister of investment and foreign economic relations.
Russia said the deal would help accelerate projects including in Myanmar's Dawei special economic zone, where a 660 MW coal-fired thermal power plant is being developed.
Russia has been building closer ties with Myanmar's military junta, which seized power in 2021 by toppling the elected government of Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
The country is struggling with internal conflict, an economy in tatters, widespread hunger and a third of the nation's 55 million people in need of aid, according to the United Nations.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing met Russian President Vladimir Putin in March and signed an agreement on construction of a small-scale nuclear plant in Myanmar. A month earlier, the two countries signed a memorandum on construction of a port and oil refinery in the Dawei economic zone.
Friday's agreement will also facilitate cooperation in areas including transport infrastructure, metallurgy, agriculture and telecommunications, the Russian government said.
(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan Editing by Gareth Jones) - Reuters
