Indonesia decided that it will barter palm oil, coffee, tea and other commodities for 11 Russian-made state of the art Sukhoi Su-35 combat jets, calling U.S. and European sanctions against Russia an opportunity to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s trade.
Indonesia already operates one squadron of 16 Su-27K/30S fighter jets @ Ujung Padang, making its first purchase in 2003 while the country was subject to a U.S. embargo on arms sales due to the alleged military’s human rights abuses.
Trade between Russia and Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, has tumbled since 2012, but the wide-ranging European Union and U.S. financial and trade sanctions against Russia are an opportunity for Indonesia to revive trade through barter deals in other industries.
The deal is worth $1.14 billion and was arranged by Russian defense agency Rostec with Indonesian trading company PT Perusahaan Perdagangan PPI.
Rostec has agreed to buy from PPI a combination of processed rubber and derivatives, palm oil and derivatives, machinery, coffee and cacao derivatives, textiles, tea, copra, footwear, processed fish, furniture, plastics, raisins, spices, paper and other products.
Bloomberg / ABC Flash Point Barter News 2018.
