The United States State Department has imposed sanctions on 14 individuals, including former SriLankan Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena and ex-Sri Lankan ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, over significant corruption.
These sanctions bar the individuals and their immediate families from entering the U.S., citing the Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, Section 7031(C).
The corruption allegations center around two major scandals: bribery involving the purchase of Airbus aircraft and irregularities in a MiG aircraft procurement deal. Both cases highlight deep-rooted issues of governance and accountability in Sri Lanka, with political and financial repercussions continuing to surface.
Airbus Bribery Scandal
Kapila Chandrasena is accused of accepting substantial bribes to secure Airbus purchases at inflated prices for SriLankan Airlines. Investigations in the UK revealed that his wife had received $2 million in bribes, but the fate of an additional $14.84 million remains unclear.
Reports suggest that these funds may have been funneled into private accounts, raising questions about broader complicity within the administration.
This scandal implicated key political figures, including Nishantha Wickremesinghe, the airline’s then-chairman and brother-in-law of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Critics argue that the close ties between the airline’s management and political leadership facilitated unchecked corruption.
Further controversy erupted when the subsequent government canceled the Airbus order without consulting legal authorities, resulting in $115 million in upfront penalties and billions more in damages. This decision, aimed at breaking ties with corrupt practices, ironically plunged Sri Lanka into greater financial losses.
The MiG Aircraft Deal
The MiG deal, another cornerstone of the sanctions, revealed alleged corruption tied to Sri Lanka’s military procurement. In 2006, former Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Commander Donald Perera proposed an open tender to acquire MiG-27 aircraft.
However, this process was bypassed after Udayanga Weeratunga, who later became Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Russia, introduced Ukrainian and Singaporean businessmen to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, then Defense Ministry Secretary.
The aircraft were purchased through Ukrinmash, a Ukrainian company, under what was purported to be a government-to-government contract.
However, investigations uncovered that over $14 million was funneled to Bellimissa Holdings Ltd., a private UK-based entity. The Ukrainian government denied any connection between Ukrinmash and Bellimissa Holdings, pointing to potential embezzlement of state funds.
Fallout and Political Accountability
The combined scandals have ignited intense political debates, with opposition figures and civil society demanding greater transparency and accountability. Critics have pointed to the lack of oversight in SriLankan Airlines’ procurement processes, questioning how an airline with assets worth $17 million could commit to a $2.8 billion deal without proper legal or financial safeguards.
These cases also cast a shadow on Sri Lanka’s political elite, with allegations of systemic corruption during the Rajapaksa administration. While the government has vowed to pursue justice, the country faces an uphill battle to recover financial losses, rebuild its international reputation, and restore public trust.
The Airbus and MiG scandals underscore a larger challenge for Sri Lanka: addressing entrenched corruption and ensuring that governance reforms are more than just political rhetoric.
