Kanchana holds talks with Qatar’s Energy Minister

Wednesday, 29 June 2022 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera has met with Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and QatarEnergy President and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi yesterday.

The two Ministers discussed the possibility of supplying petroleum products to Sri Lanka in a bid to overcome the energy crisis through the assistance of Qatar Energy and the Qatar Development Fund.

Wijesekera said discussions centred around a possible credit line for petroleum and gas and was informed that funds have been allocated by Qatar for medical supplies and it will consider the request for a credit facility and support the IMF program

On Monday night, Minister Wijesekera and Environment Minister Ahamed Nazeer left the country for Doha, Qatar to hold bilateral discussions on fuel imports among many other subjects.

Separately, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha and former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia Saman Weerasinghe, and several officials are scheduled to leave for Moscow, Russia on Sunday to hold talks to solve Sri Lanka’s energy crisis.

Minister Premajayantha has left for France via Dubai to reach Moscow

The Government expects a positive response from Russia during the diplomatic visit by the Minister and officials.

Given the dire straits of the economic crisis, on Monday, the Government decided to supply fuel ‘only’ to essential services till 10 July, whilst requesting all other sectors to work from home (WFH).