Diplomatic Correspondent :
Both Bangladesh and Russia have been discussing closely on the oil purchase through different mechanism including currency swap.
They are hopeful that they will be able to find out a solution in a bid to diminish the severe crisis of fuel in Bangladesh as its power generation has been badly affected.
The remarks came in a roundtable conference titled “Six Months of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine: Its Results and Perspectives” organised by Russian Embassy in Bangladesh.
“Talks on intergovernmental and business-to-business levels pertaining to the supplies of Russian crude and refined oil are going on. Sample of Russian crude oil would be made available for Bangladeshi experts to find out whether that can be refined here.” Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Mantytskiy said on Wednesday.
The Ambassador also informed that primary discussions have started to explore the mechanisms to replace dollar in bilateral trade between the two countries.
They also talked about the currency swapping in a bid to buy Russian oil by evading the dollar exchange to ease the bilateral trade between the two countries amid the sanctions due to Russian invasion on Ukraine.
“I have recently talked to the Governor of Bangladesh Bank on the issue”, he added.
Since the shortage of fuel which has affected the power generation in the country, Bangladesh has been looking for buying Russian oil.
With the sanctions by US, European Union and Great Britain, Russia is under pressure of in global trade as a number of its banks were excluded from the SWIFT system.
Regarding the import of wheat, he said, “Discussions are on the possibility of delivering two-three lakh tons of Russian grains to Bangladesh.”
The meeting also revealed that Russia’s Gazprom proposed to invest in the hydrocarbon sector of Bangladesh.
Besides, the Ambassador blamed the USA for the economic crisis which is affecting the whole world including Bangladesh.
“The US is responsible for the sanctions, not Russia, and it is affecting the global economy,” he said.
The Envoy also noted that US-led unipolar world leadership has now become multipolar world order led by Russia, China, India and other countries.
