Uganda has rewarded a $4bn oil refinery deal to a subsidiary of Russia’s Rostec, whose CEO has been subject to US sanctions. Uganda and RT Global Resources will now negotiate the terms of a joint venture to engineer and finance the $2.5bn refinery plus a product pipeline and associated infrastructure. The decision to award the contract cements growing ties between Moscow, and the country, which increasingly characterises the west as a neo-colonial aggressor. The CEO, Sergei Chemezov, is a former KGB officer and close ally of President Vladimir Putin. The US blocked his assets and prohibited companies from dealing with him since April 2014 in response to Russia’s military involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The EU followed suit in September. Although Uganda is under no legal compulsion to comply with the sanctions, the decision will further threaten its international standing. Uganda’s global standing was knocked last year […]