Sri Lanka has bought coal from the Singapore unit of Russian coal trader SUEK AG and will pay in U.S. dollars, two senior officials said, as it looks to address a fuel shortage that has lead to hours-long power outages. Sri Lanka has been struggling to pay for critical imports including fuel and food due to paltry forex reserves, while many Russian firms are struggling to complete transactions because foreign banks are wary of doing business with them after Western sanctions that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some international traders have been avoiding Russian oil to avoid becoming entangled in sanctions, but Russia has been pushing its commodities to countries including Sri Lanka’s northern neighbour India at steep discounts. Sri Lanka’s power secretary, Wasantha Perera, said that the island nation was expecting coal from Russia and would pay as per contract. “The company […]