Russia Agrees to Establish Yangon Flights and Nuclear Energy Hub in Myanmar
By Hein Htoo Zan 21 November 2022
Myanmar’s junta and Russia have agreed to open direct flights to Yangon and to establish a nuclear technology hub in the city, according to the regime-controlled media.
Junta delegations attended Transport Week and other international forums in Moscow last week.
Science and technology minister Dr Myo Thein Kyaw signed a deal at the nuclear technology center in St Petersburg on Friday with Russia’s state-run nuclear corporation, Rosatom, to establish a similar institution in Yangon.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has strengthened ties with Russia since his coup in February 2021.
Russia is looking to expand the role of its oil and gas firms in Myanmar.
The regime signed a road map for atomic energy cooperation with Rosatom in September, including a possible modular reactor project in Myanmar.
The agreement was signed at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, which was attended by Min Aung Hlaing.
On September 20, junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun confirmed regime plans to build a small nuclear power plant in the next few years.
He did not give a location but said the Atomic Energy Department at the Ministry of Science and Technology would establish a “nuclear information technology center” in Yangon to influence public opinion on nuclear energy.
Transport and communications minister Tin Aung San attended workshops and conferences on railway and urban transport at Moscow’s Transport Week.
On Wednesday both civil aviation authorities agreed to Yangon flights from Vladivostok, Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk with Myanmar Airways International next year.
Negotiations for the flights began in early September before the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
