Russia Signs Port Investment Deal With Myanmar's Military Junta

 

The Russian government has signed an MOU with the military dictatorship of Myanmar to build a special economic zone in Dawei, a small port town on Myanmar's narrow Malay Peninsula coastline. 

The memorandum - signed by Russian economic development minister Maxim Reshetnikov and Myanmar's investment minister Kan Zaw - covers the construction of a seaport, a coal-fired powerplant and an oil refinery at Dawei. A Thai consortium entered into a similar port development MOU with Myanmar's previous government, but the deal fell apart in 2021.

The zone would be 50,000 acres in size, providing room for industrial development. Reshetnikov told Russian media that "oil refining is still the most complex element," and that this might not be actualized. "There is a desire of the Myanmar side to have a refinery. Our companies are still studying the economics of such a project, it is very complicated from the point of view of economic feasibility," he said. 

The project's success will require the junta to retain control of Myanmar, with assistance from Russian and Chinese arms suppliers. Since seizing power and overthrowing the elected government in 2021, Myanmar's military forces have been steadily losing ground to a loose coalition of rebels. According to the BBC, the junta had full control of just 20 percent of the country as of November, and rebel groups have been slowly advancing on several fronts.