Sri Lanka will transfer the operations of its Chinese-built Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport to a consortium of Indian and Russian firms, despite warnings from the United States about sanctions on a key stakeholder of the Russian company involved, according to the island’s Aviation Minister.
A joint venture between India’s Shaurya Aeronautics Pvt Ltd and Russia’s Airports of Regions Management Company has secured a 30-year contract to manage the airport. US officials have informed the Sri Lankan government that the key stakeholder of Russia’s Airports of Regions Management Company was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2018 for alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections.
“That is not true and correct. We have checked that. It is only a rumour,” Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told reporters in Colombo. “I asked them to give me evidence. Nobody was able to furnish evidence.”
De Silva told EconomyNext that a high-ranking US Embassy official had also raised concerns about the Russian firm. “We are going to hand over the Mattala airport to the Russian and Indian consortium. We had gone through a tedious procedure. I think within a few weeks, we will be able to hand over the airport. They are going to take over the airport,” he stated.
US Embassy officials were not immediately available for comment.
Constructed for $209 million, the airport has been called the “world’s emptiest airport” due to its lack of flights. The minister noted that it incurs an annual loss of 3 billion rupees (US$10 million).
Strategically located near Hambantota port on Sri Lanka’s southern coast, where China operates a port under a 99-year lease and Sinopec is building a US$5 billion refinery, the airport has been used sparingly, primarily when flights cannot land at the country’s main airport in Katunayake, north of Colombo.
Airports of the Regions is a major airport holding company in Russia. Until 2021, it was owned by the Renova Group, headed by Viktor Vekselberg, a Ukrainian-born Russian sanctioned by the US in 2018. In 2021, Vekselberg transferred control of Airports of the Regions to a former top manager of Renova, according to media reports.
Sri Lanka has previously used Mattala airport to attract Russian and Ukrainian tourists following the Covid-19 lockdown. The former government had offered the airport to India to boost cultural tourism from India, but those discussions did not succeed.