Myanmar and its close ally Russia signed a memorandum on investment cooperation in a special economic zone in Dawei, including construction of a port and an oil refinery, Russia's Ministry of Economic Development said on Sunday.

The document was signed by the head of the Russian ministry, Maxim Reshetnikov, and Myanmar's minister for investment and foreign economic relations, Kan Zaw, during a visit of a Russian delegation to the Southeast Asian country.

"The text of the memorandum contains the basic parameters of several large infrastructure and energy projects that are being implemented jointly with Russian companies in Myanmar," the Russian ministry cited Reshetnikov as saying in a statement.

"We are talking about projects to build a port, a coal-fired thermal power plant and an oil refinery."

He added that "oil refining is still the most complex element," and there was no final decision on construction of a refinery.

"As for the refinery — there is a desire of the Myanmar side to have a refinery. Our companies are still studying the economics of such a project, it is very complicated from the point of view of economic feasibility," Interfax news agency cited Reshetnikov.

According to the Russian ministry, the Dawei special economic zone is a 196 square-kilometer project in the Andaman Sea which is planned to house high-tech industrial zones and transport hubs, information technology zones and export processing zones.

Russia has become Myanmar's closest ally since the military coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's elected civilian government in February 2021.

Moscow and Naypyidaw have been discussing a deeper energy cooperation, including Russia's participation in the construction of a gas pipeline to the Myanmar's main city Yangon. Russia has also had plans for a nuclear research reactor in the country.

Reuters

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