YANGON, Myanmar
Two Singaporean-registered companies with a link to Russia have signed a deal for offshore oil and gas exploration and production sharing in Myanmar, state media reported Saturday.
Silver Wave Energy Pte. Ltd. and Silver Wave Sputnik Petroleum Pte. Ltd. signed the deal with state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, or MOGE, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
It gave no details of the deal, saying only that it was signed by the energy minister from the Russian Republic of Kalmykia, Boris Chedyrov; the chairman of Silver Wave Energy, U Min Min Aung; and the managing director of MOGE, Myint Kyi.
Since Myanmar liberalized its investment code in late 1988, the military-ruled nation has attracted its largest foreign investments in the energy sector. It has signed oil and gas exploration contracts with France's Total SA, Unocal Corp. of the United States, Malaysia's Petronas, Thailand's PTT Exploration & Production PCL, Daewoo of South Korea and companies from Russia, India and Australia.
New contracts continue to be signed despite the condemnation of the military regime by Western nations for its poor record on human rights and its failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
The United States and the European Union have imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar in recent years as a result.
Myanmar's current junta took power in 1988 after crushing the pro-democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide election victory.
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