Cash-strapped Sri Lanka took delivery on Saturday of Russian oil — which could soon be subject to a European embargo — to restart operations at the country's only refinery, the energy minister said.
The island nation is suffering its worst economic meltdown since independence, with shortages of fuel and other vital goods making life miserable for its 22 million people.
The state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation refinery was shuttered in March in the wake of Sri Lanka's foreign exchange crunch, which left the government unable to finance crude imports.
The Russian crude delivery had been waiting offshore of the capital Colombo's port for more than a month as the country was unable to raise $75 million to pay for it, energy minister Kanchana Wijesekera said.
Colombo is also in talks with Moscow to arrange direct supplies of crude, coal, diesel and petrol despite US-led sanctions on Russian banks and a diplomatic outcry over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"I have made an official request to the Russian ambassador for direct supplies of Russian oil," Mr Wijesekera told reporters in Colombo.
"Crude alone will not fulfil our requirement, we need other refined [petroleum] products as well."
Around 90,000 tonnes of Siberian light crude will be sent to Sri Lanka's refinery after the shipment was acquired on credit from intermediary Coral Energy.
Ceylon Petroleum Corporation was already in arrears of $735m to suppliers and no one came forward to even bid for its oil tenders, Mr Wijesekera said.
Sri Lanka protests - in pictures
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Violence raged across Sri Lanka late into the night on Monday, with five people dead and some 180 injured. AFP -
Sri Lanka's pro-government supporters vandalise camps of anti government protestors outside the president's office in Colombo. AP Photo -
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa quit on May 9 after a day of violence saw four people, including an MP, killed. AFP -
Government supporters armed with sticks and clubs attack protestors. AFP -
Demonstrators scuffle with police outside the president's office in Colombo. AFP -
Demonstrators and government supporters clash. AFP -
Police personnel stand guard outside the president's office. AFP -
Destroyed vehicles litter the street after anti-government protesters rioted in Colombo. AFP -
Pro-government supporters hold Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's portrait while protesting. AFP -
A bus burns close to Sri Lanka's outgoing Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo. AFP -
Anti-government protesters destroy a bus in Colombo. AFP -
Army personnel stand guard outside the president's office in Colombo. AFP -
Supporters of the Sri Lankan government attempt to block a police water canon truck. AFP -
People gather near a burning bus in Colombo. AFP -
Anti-government demonstrators set fire to the house owned by Cabinet Minister Sanath Nishantha. Reuters -
Sri Lankans push a bus, transporting government supporters who attacked anti-government protesters, into a lake in Colombo. AP Photo -
A policeman fires tear gas during a clash. AFP -
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Monday over the country’s dire economic state and violence at mass protests outside his home in Colombo, his spokesman Rohan Weliwita said. AP -
Demonstrators and government supporters clash outside the official residence of Mahinda Rajapaksa, 76, who offered his resignation to his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. AFP -
A man suffers after being sprayed with tear gas as cars burn on the streets of Colombo, Sri Lanka. AP -
Paramilitary police arrive as demonstrators and government supporters clash. AFP -
Sri Lankan government supporters cheer outside the prime minister's residence in Colombo. AP -
Supporters of the ruling party run as riot police fire tear gas during clashes in Colombo, amid the country's economic crisis. Reuters -
A policeman stands guard in riot gear. AP -
Water cannon are fired during a confrontation with anti-government demonstrators. Reuters -
Supporters of Sri Lanka's ruling party run in Colombo as police fire tear gas during a clash with anti-government demonstrators. Reuters -
A Sri Lankan Catholic priest, centre in a white robe, is among anti-government protesters being attacked by supporters of the ruling party outside the prime minister's residence. AP -
Tears after anti-government protesters were attacked by supporters of the ruling party in Colombo. AP -
Violence flares between demonstrators and government supporters outside the president's office in Colombo. AFP -
Activists stage a mock ritual to 'exorcise demons' outside the official residence of Sri Lanka's prime minister. AFP
The Siberian grade was not an ideal match for the refinery, which is optimised for Iranian light crude, but no other supplier was willing to extend credit, he added.
Sri Lanka will nonetheless call for fresh supply tenders in two weeks before the stock of Siberian light runs out, Mr Wijesekera said.
The Sapugaskanda refinery on Colombo's outskirts will resume work in about two days.
European Union leaders are meeting on Monday in an effort to negotiate a fresh round of sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict, including an oil embargo.
Russian oil is already subject to a US embargo and its barrels have traded at a steep discount from international benchmarks, which have risen substantially since the conflict began.
Sri Lanka's economic crisis has seen long queues of motorists outside gas stations, waiting hours and sometimes even days for scant supplies of petrol and cooking gas.
Its people are also grappling with acute shortages of imported food and pharmaceuticals, along with record inflation and lengthy daily power outages.
Anti-government protests erupted into riots earlier this month. A demonstration outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office in Colombo demanding his resignation over the government's economic mismanagement entered its 50th day on Saturday.
