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Sri Lanka’s Chinese-financed white elephant airport leased to Indian-Russian joint venture

  • The Mattala airport is named after ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who borrowed heavily from China for infrastructure projects that became commercial failures
  • Since receiving an International Monetary Fund bailout last year, Sri Lanka has sought to privatise a host of loss-making state-owned enterprises

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Sri Lanka has leased it white elephant, Mattala airport, built with Chinese loans to an Indian-Russian joint venture. Photo: Handout
Sri Lanka said on Friday it had leased a white elephant international airport built with Chinese loans to a foreign joint venture, as the island nation’s bankrupt government seeks to offload loss-making assets.
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The small airport near a wildlife sanctuary on the southern coast opened in 2013 but was immediately plagued by problems, and has been a running sore on state coffers since.

Government spokesman Bandula Gunawardana told reporters that cabinet had awarded a 30-year lease to a joint venture between India’s Shaurya Aeronautics and Russia’s Airports of Regions Management Company.

He did not give further financial details, but said only four other companies had shown an interest in managing the isolated airport, which currently has no scheduled flights.

The airport is named after former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who borrowed heavily from China for infrastructure projects that quickly became commercial failures.
Since receiving an International Monetary Fund bailout last year, Sri Lanka has sought to privatise a host of loss-making state-owned enterprises.

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The Mattala airport is in the middle of a migratory route for birds, with several aircraft forced to ground after striking airborne fowl.

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