The Irrawaddy | 26 February 2026
Putin ratifies investment protection pact with Myanmar junta
by Maung Kavi
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed off on a bilateral agreement with Myanmar’s junta to promote and protect bilateral investments, further deepening ties between the two regimes across the military, economic and political fronts.
The Kremlin announced on Feb. 20 that Putin approved the Russia–Myanmar Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, which was originally inked on June 20 last year in St. Petersburg. The pact commits both sides to creating favourable conditions for investors from the other country that safeguard their money.
It bolsters a relationship that has expanded steadily since the 2021 putsch in Myanmar. What began as arms sales and military training has widened into economic engagement, with Russian state-linked investors, business executives and senior officials making a beeline to Naypyitaw.
In turn, junta ministers responsible for investment, foreign trade, transport, agriculture, labour, natural resources and the environment—along with crony businesspeople—have travelled to Moscow and St. Petersburg for talks.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has visited Russia several times. During a trip last March, he urged Russian companies to explore lucrative business opportunities in Myanmar, claiming that the war-torn country could constitute a bridgehead into a regional market of more than 2 billion people.
The two countries have since been talking up cooperation in the energy, agriculture, education and transport sectors—though so far the most visible outcome has been the ground-breaking ceremony last December on a fertilizer plant in Naypyitaw
Even a nuclear power plant near the administrative capital is in the works. More immediate plans include rice exports to Russia and imports of fertilizer and pesticides. In the medium term, the two sides are eyeing port and refinery construction, Russian investment in the Dawei Special Economic Zone in Tanintharyi Region, and gas exploration and production projects off Myanmar coast, as well as expanding trade routes via India to boost bilateral commerce.
Despite the political warmth, then, Russia’s economic footprint in Myanmar remains modest compared with China’s.
Myanmar’s Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Minister Kan Zaw last year said bilateral trade had more than doubled in recent years, rising from US$34.45 million in the 2020–21 fiscal year to $74.73 million in 2023–24 and $34.22 million in the first seven months of 2024–25. Myanmar’s main exports to Russia include garments, shoes and bags, as well as the niche markets of mango purée and human hair.
China has been a far bigger driver of fresh investment since the coup. Chinese-backed megaprojects include the China–Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and railway schemes slicing through the country all the way to the Indian Ocean.
Facing Western sanctions, the junta has increasingly aligned itself with the Chinese and Russian sphere of influence, where it has been accepted as a dialogue partner in the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization and lobbied to join BRICS as an observer. Min Aung Hlaing has also asked to join the Russia‑led Eurasian Economic Union as an observer.
