Moscow Agrees to Build Power Plant for Myanmar’s Stalled Dawei SEZ

Myanmar’s regime has signed an agreement with Russia to build a power plant at the long-delayed Dawei deep‑sea port and special economic zone. The memorandum of understanding, signed last week in St. Petersburg during a visit led by Vice‑President Nyo Saw to deepen trade and investment ties, marks the latest attempt to revive what is billed as Southeast Asia’s largest industrial zone.

Nyo Saw led a delegation of regime ministers—spanning national planning and foreign economic relations, commerce, natural resources, electricity and energy, information, and labor—to attend the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum from June 3-6.

The memorandum was signed last Friday by Myanmar’s Launglon Economic Development Co. and Russia’s state-run Inter RAO, in the presence of Nyo Saw and Russia’s Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov. Also present was Aung Zaw Zaw, owner of Myanmar Airways International (MAI), a regime business ally who accompanied Min Aung Hlaing to India last week.

The Dawei SEZ project, located in Tanintharyi Region on the Andaman coast, includes a deep‑sea port, industrial zone, and energy facilities. The two sides previously announced plans to kickstart the project in February last year, when Reshetnikov signed an agreement to build a coal‑fired power plant and an oil refinery—though he conceded that financing for the latter remained uncertain.

In April, Myanmar’s Electricity Minister Ko Ko Lwin visited Russia and urged Moscow to expedite the projects in Dawei.

Regime chief Min Aung Hlaing has stated that he is negotiating with Russia to build a port capable of handling vessels over 200,000 tons.

However, analysts question whether Moscow is willing to commit billions of dollars to a port and refinery that remains heavily vulnerable to ongoing resistance attacks.

During the St. Petersburg trip, Myanmar’s National Planning, Economic and Foreign Economic Relations Ministry and the Commerce Ministry also signed a memorandum of cooperation with Russia’s RC‑Investments. Meanwhile, Labor Minister U Khin Maung Soe met representatives of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan to discuss recruitment of Myanmar workers and conditions for those already working there. The regime began sending workers to Russia in March last year.

Since the 2021 coup, cooperation between the two regimes has expanded rapidly from arms sales to cover diplomacy, trade, investment, nuclear energy, and labor.

The Russia visit followed Min Aung Hlaing’s trip to India in late May to promote trade and investment, and Foreign Minister Than Swe’s trip to China to discuss bilateral economic cooperation.