Sri Lanka has the potential to become a maritime hub for Russian export commodities as Russia looks to reorient exports of its key commodities away from Western markets to other markets including Asia.

“Sri Lanka can become a part of this process of restructuring Russian exports and obtain much-needed products. What is more, Sri Lanka may serve as a maritime hub for Russian export commodities,” Alexey Tseleshchev said.
In particular, he pointed out that Sri Lanka could gain access to critical imports such as wheat, fuel and fertilisers from Russia by playing a role in this exercise.

Amid the forex crisis, the Sri Lankan government recently requested the Russian government to provide crude oil on credit terms.