Russian Ambassador encourages Sri Lanka to consider nuclear energy collaboration

By Rathindra Kuruwita

It is up to Sri Lanka to determine whether to collaborate with Russia’s state owned Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation in building a small nuclear power plant or not, says Levan S. Dzhagaryan, Ambassador of the Russian Federation.

Ambassador Dzhagaryan said nuclear energy was a viable alternative for Sri Lanka. He added that he had mentioned the possibility of establishing small nuclear power plants in many meetings with Sri Lankan officials. “This will be a 110 megawatt power plant, and it can be in two blocks, one floating and one on the land, Dzhagaryan said.

“You need an alternative source of power. Don’t rely only on coal, or LNG. We have nuclear cooperation with India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Türkiye and Iran.”

Dzhagaryan added that there was a high-level delegation from Russia between 06 and 08 December. It was headed by Nikolai Patrushev, Chief Advisor of President Putin on security issues.

“They met President Wickremesinghe. They had very good discussions. Hopefully we will be able to implement some of the ideas that were discussed. We know that Sri Lanka is under pressure from some countries, but as a sovereign country, we think Sri Lanka will carry out its independent foreign policy,” he said.

Dzhagaryan added that he expects 200,000 tourists to arrive in Sri Lanka by February 2024 due to increased flight operations by Russian airlines to Katunayaka and Mattala airports.

Commenting on reports that Russia has floated a proposal to carry out a joint venture to develop Mattala airport, the Russian Ambassador said, a large number of Russian tourists arrive in Sri Lanka. AZUR air, Russia’s largest Charter airline, and Aeroflot, the flag carrier, and the largest airline of Russia, come to Katunayaka. Red Wings, specializing in scheduled and charter passenger transportation, flies to Mattala. Russians enjoy their stay in Sri Lanka. There were different proposals on Mattala and we expressed ours. It’s under consideration. Once again, it’s up to Sri Lanka to decide,” he said.