19 March, 2024

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Exposé: How CDS Ravi Wijeguneratne Green-Lighted The Russian Ship Purchase In Exchange For Promotion

Former Navy Commander Ravindra Wijegunaratne recommended the purchase of an extravagantly priced Russian ship in August 2017 to President Maithripala Sirisena just days before he received his promotion to the rank of Chief of Defence Staff Colombo Telegraph can now reveal.

Wijegunaratne, then Commander of the Navy informed President Sirisena that they should purchase the Russian frigate at a colossal cost of USD 135 million plus a further USD 7 million to train personnel to man the vessel in August 2017.

Chief of Defense Staff Adm.R.Wijegunaratne with envoy Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka and Russian Chief of General Staff, Gen.Valery Gerasimov

The then Navy Commander gave the purchase Sirisena was agitating for despite the fact that three separate reports from senior Navy officials had explicitly discouraged the purchase, on the basis that it was too expensive and of little use to the Sri Lanka Navy at that point.

The total cost of the Russian vessel would have amounted to nearly USD 200 million, Colombo Telegraph learns.

President Sirisena and his alleged middle man Kili Rajamahendran (Maharaja) were desperate for the Russian ship deal to go through, in spite of the Navy’s reports discouraging the purchase.

Wijegunaratne realised the desperation when Sri Lanka’s then Ambassador to Moscow Saman Jayasinghe and Lanka Logistics Chairman Lalith Liyanage were strongly pushing the purchase of the Russian vessel.

Wijegunaratne went against three of his own Navy committees to inform the President that the Russian frigate was a good ship and that USD 135 million was a good price for the vessel Colombo Telegraph learns. Wijeguneratne made his observations in writing about the Russian vessel it is learnt.

Only days later he was promoted as the most senior military officer of the land by President Sirisena.

He has continued to get six month extensions on his contract ever since. He has been a strong favourite of President Sirisena ever since he green-lighted the Russian ship procurement. Similarly the Navy commander who served just before Wijegunaratne got his marching orders because he strongly opposed President Sirisena’s plans to purchase the Russian vessel.

Wijeguneratne who was arrested in connection with harbouring the mastermind and ringleader of a naval abduction racket accused of abducting detaining and finally killing 11 young men has retained his position as Chief of Defence Staff, in spite of the charges lodged against him, and the fact that he remains a suspect currently out on bail.

He is also alleged to have attempted to intimidate a key witness against him in the abduction case shortly before his arrest by the CID.

Wijegunaratne has also made recent visits to Moscow following which he has taken a publicly antagonistic position on Sri Lanka’s military cooperation with the United States. This quickly made him a hero on the Sirasa/MTV network. The Maharaja group also saw its dreams shattered when the Russian ship deal fell through after high level interventions and warnings that the Russian company which would handle the transaction Ropsboronexport was under US sanctions. It is a well-known fact that Maharaja’s preferred “political expert” Dr Dayan Jayatillake was also strongly recommended to President Sirisena by the Sirasa Network as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Moscow in the hope of pushing the ship deal through. (By Tilakasiri Bandara) 

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  • 29
    0

    sirisena needs the money badly for his political campaign for a second term.waste of money.As for wijegunaratne ,he has no principles,unlike his predecessor who bowed out gracefully with his reputation intact.he was only navy commander for 6 months,but what is the use of sullying your name after a long career just to get a extension of a year more.this arseole killi has enough money,but wants more and more at the country’s expense.I hope i hope we are rid of all these three next year.

    • 1
      13

      It looks Shankar tried to reach or talk to the former Navy Commander and he did not talk. What a travesty.

    • 5
      3

      why is Colombo telegraph not revealing who is bringing hazardous waste to sri lanka and polluting it ! – worse crime in my opinion, dumping hospital waste from another country on poor unsuspecting sri lankans. no one cares. is there a worst crime than this ?

  • 0
    0

    This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2

  • 36
    0

    Hey people, now you know how to become rich, or kill people and still get promotions and extensions, or get an ambassadorial post – just go out and buy a rickety old Russian ship for Captain Sira, the pirate of Polonnaruwa.

  • 30
    0

    All signs point to Sirisena’s corruption. So how much commission did they get?
    Do we have ANY politician, who makes a multi million dollar purchase for genuine reasons, and makes sure nothing goes to his/her pocket, or to the pockets of his family and friends? From the Rajapaksa’s to the present disaster, they are all in it to enrich themselves, one way or the other. The Rajapaksa family too started with nothing, but now spend like billionaires, traveling to foreign lands often, lavish wedding that cost the earth, flashy expensive cars, and owners of many property.
    We are cursed with ethically and morally corrupt politicians from all parties.

  • 22
    0

    The “cut” under the table is/was for the coming election – presidential/parliamentary – expenses.
    The photo shows it all.
    Such a purchase can happen only in Sri Lanka.
    The ‘corruption epidemic’ is at its zenith.
    Why did the Russians make such a deal is puzzling, clearly knowing what was happening.

  • 23
    0

    Is this not the guy who slapped a journalist in Hambantota during a peaceful protest.
    He is a relic from the Gota/ Mara corrupt era where what they said was absolute and they had stooges such as this character to keep things that way.
    So don’t blame him too much, he was moulded that way.
    These guys would sell their mothers if the price is right.

  • 16
    1

    CT

    A war monger and a war crime denier, a thug in uniform, a hopper are helping the businessman make more money out this scrap metal deal.

    What is in it for each of them?

    Nimal Fernando,.
    Where are you?
    I hope you have not joined the crooks at least for the time being.

    • 8
      0

      Oh! c’mon Native!

      I was hoping for this ………..be kind ……… let the poor sod make a few bucks.

      Hope, after 60 odd years of getting used by others……… this time Dayan has enough smarts to take a cut and salt it away ……. finally to be an independent man.

      If not, what a life!

      • 5
        0

        nimal fernando

        “finally to be an independent man.”

        Is he going to contest elections?
        If you invited will you agree to be his campaign manager/strategist?
        This is the time you could make yourself heard, influential, ….rich.
        You don’t have to use your brain however you will be expected to lie through your teeth for your boss. If caught out you will have to remain shameless for the rest of your life.

  • 18
    0

    There would have been so many deals which no one knows ,all politicians are greedy bastards ,they are there to make money. One good thing is they will never enjoy that money .Hutan Patan…

  • 1
    0

    Was the Russian ship purchased?

  • 20
    2

    Its very interested to know how much DJ’s share from the loot as he had to change his preferred French Wine to Russian Vodka while at Moscow.

    What I hear from my friend in the Navy is this ship is not worth more than for its scrap metal value and in a time of peace this will be a colossal waste of money from the national coffers.

    This is one of the reason that troika of MS/Kili/DJ all hates Ranil W., who was apposed to this scrap metal craft purchase.

    • 2
      10

      Madtilta is commenting about a Ship that Is not not in Sri lankan ports. NGO brains, amazing.

      • 11
        1

        JD

        you seem to have your brains in your arse.The deal has been signed off.The only thing is because of the US sanctions on russia they are unable to purchase it.Of course they can give some tea for the ship and some of that tea can be sent back to sirisena’s son in law and killi maharajah to a overseas stores and they can sell it to an overseas buyer.This is why killi is furious with the US and and against the SOFA.Gone are the days when maharajah’s were employment generators.To do that you need capital After july 83 they took all the capital that was not destroyed and what they got through insurance after paying off the banks,to australia.Now they are a shell of a company doing wheeler dealings like this for their commissions.

        • 0
          1

          SHANKAR: I can understand you very well. IMRAN Khan cancelled SOFA. Find out how he was treated. Mahinda Rajapakse was stupid and he did not identify who his enemies are. So, he lost. See a news paper what John Kerry had told. they had spent hundreds of millions of dollars to make REGIME (their words) changes. One country is Srilanka. both Ranil and Rajapakses are the same and are pro-Chinese.. I think, rajapakses have assets in the USA. That was the reason why Rajapakses are targeted and are hated enemies of the USA. MODI says, they wanted to use ZAHARAN to blow up India..

  • 8
    1

    lets hope dayan does not join the other crooks otherwise mervyn will be turning in hi grave
    however being siras man you never can tell

    • 6
      0

      nalman,if dayan didn’t at least get a bottle of vodka for the ship,i would be surprised.

  • 15
    0

    This is old news. We know this story. The problem is that nothing can be done about it. The executive is a rogue and an agent of a foreign country. This country loves to prop up greedy bastards by letting them rob millions off contracted loans they provide to poor third world countries. In return they get total loyalty and a license to pillage whatever they can squeeze out of the victim nation. It is called a godura in Sinhalese. The lowest priority for them is the people who live in the country they have targeted. In order to become a global power they have enslaved their own people under the jack boot of a dictatorship forcing the people to work like slaves seven days a week 12 hours a day. Some greedy corporations have dreams about creating similar working conditions in their own countries by breaking down all semblance of workers rights and protections. You have highlighted the names of several top notch scoundrels who have no morals or principles. People who will sell their souls to the devil. But look at Sirasa. Do our buffoons realize that they are being deceived by this channel. No they keep on watching it like mesmerized robots. Here is a suggestion boycott all maharaja owned businesses and drive him out of business.

  • 13
    0

    “Dayan the Rat”…….all Gota’s men, now bidding for a comeback.

  • 12
    0

    What a travesty!
    “Wijeguneratne who was arrested in connection with harbouring the mastermind and ringleader of a naval abduction racket accused of abducting detaining and finally killing 11 young men has retained his position as Chief of Defence Staff, in spite of the charges lodged against him, and the fact that he remains a suspect currently out on bail”.
    Slimy Dayan is drooling in the background of this photo.

  • 9
    0

    Ha, ha, ha the cat is out of the bag. Now we know the change of hearts of the former Navy Commander about ACSA.
    Where were the Sunday Times political “EXPERT” and Sirasa Pathikada Buhubamba while all these happening? What were these supergrade investigative journalists doing? Maybe counting the pages of ACSA. Or checking under the SOFAs in the Parliament lounge. Wonder how much was the commission promised for those patriotic characters. Very interesting !!!

  • 5
    0

    Does any of them deserve any respect of any sort? At least the uniform they wear?

  • 5
    2

    CT Editors: Sadly, there are former Sri Lankan Navy Admirals who have been forced out of service and taken foreign citizenship and live in Australia, which is a member of the US led QUAD – US, India, Japan, Australia – that opposed the Russian ship purchase.
    But there is a deeper politics here regarding all the ships given to the Sri lanka by all these countries which need a comprehensive investigation
    This story seems to be an American plant as Russia and China are increasingly working together in the so called Indo Pacific , a region that does NOT exist, and this is to cover up the fact that Special Operations Forces (SOF) working with Saudi agents set up the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka to set up a US military base under the guise of fighting IS terrorism.

  • 8
    0

    CT Editors: please do a story on how British Garbage was shipped to and ended up in Sri Lanka, and which ships bought in this garbage and why the Sri Lanka Navy and customs which is very good at catching poor fishermen and drug smugglers failed to detect the British garbage coming to Sri Lanka for past 2 years? The other mystery is where this this garbage actually come from – a detail that the JVP is trying to cover up by siting the Basel Convention! Did the garbage at the Colombo Dock yard and Katunayake zone originate from little England or from BIOT?

    The other question is where should this British Garbage be sent back to? or should the British Garbage be returned to the British Embassy in Colombo since it is British Territory like the illegally occupied British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Diego Garcia US military base on Chagos islands?
    The US-Uk_NATO war machine and its military bases are the biggest environment pollutors, carbon footprint, in the world and generate massive amounts of GARBAGE.

  • 7
    0

    Mahinda Rajapaksa criticised the government last evening for signing agreements with secret. Who chooses what agreement should be publicized and Secret. saying as Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

  • 12
    0

    No wonder why Sirasa has been attacking Ranil left, right and center for the last couple of years. Now we see why Sirasa News 1st had intensified it fire and has gone beyond news reporting to disseminating their vicious political opinions. Surely Ranil is failure and the time is up for him to leave politics. But it should happen not because of Sirisena or his shadowy businessmen with ulterior motives want it that way.

  • 7
    0

    Dayan Jayatilaka is surprisingly silent about his maharaja paymaster

  • 5
    0

    one good thing about this ship is we can put 700 of our elite on it and set it adrift in the high seas,after destroying their passports.They could come back as kallathonis but that is a risk worth taking.Let us see hmmm this elite new rich,old rich,top ofthe list of 700 sira and family,ranil and no family,mahinda and family and extended family and entire hambantota clan and close associates like sajin vaas etc.Wimal booruwansa and family, kurunegala hospital director, magistrate and DIG and families,all the intelligence services chaps who did killings for the rajapakshes,all those on death row in welikada(though not elite they can be menial workers for the elite,like serving tea,washing their arses,of course must not forget killi maharajah and his mistresses,and must ask native veddha about dayan,also gnanasera to chant pirith in the ship etc.one good bloody cleanup.can wait and see whose is the lucky country that they are going to land in one day.

    • 3
      0

      i forgot to put the most important guys,who know to sail a ship,kannangara and wijegunaratne.Wije with his family and kannangara poor fellow with only his dog.

      • 2
        0

        oops sorry should be karanagoda,not kannangara.

  • 2
    0

    omy god i forgot electricity for the ship with ranil there and wanting ravi krunanayake to provide uninterrupted power supply to the country(now of course ship) how can we leave out ravi.Colombo 7 ranil won’t be able to manage even one day without it.So ravi is a must to keep ranil in comfort.

  • 2
    5

    Without looking at the Specifications, it is hard to determine the Capabilities.
    But Russian Navy vessels have kept the US 7th Fleet in check , while Putin cleared up the Syrian mess which the British made, and create the biggest mass scale influx of Muslims to Germany and the rest of the EU-

    That USD 200 Mil is not really real ,
    Russians don’t pay Santhosams. And Sira wouldn’t take them.
    Otherwise Sira wouldn’t have been able to try and fix Dr Ranil’s ex Royal Friend in Singapore.

    Anyway what is more important is the American Intelligence Reports from the US Embassy in Colombo.
    They have nothing to do with the Muslim Terrorists who destroyed the Catholic Community.

    But it is all about how popular Mrdumulana Mama is and the US fear that him and his bacakers have an unassailable lead over the disgraced Dr Ranil and Sira’s Government.
    And the Intelligence Report has demanded the US Operatives in Colombo get that SOFA and the 120,000 Acre Deals stitched up before anymore delay.

    No wonder Dr Ranil said the other day that Srilanka will be a different place in the next two years..

    Could it be that 120,000 Acre Corridor from Jaffana to Colombo being guarded by the Boots on the Ground and Dr Ranil’ l and his Elite, Anglican , Vellala and the new addition Wahabi Faction live happily ever after in the Corridor?..

    • 4
      1

      KASmaalam K.A. Sumanasekera

      “Without looking at the Specifications, it is hard to determine the Capabilities.”

      It is 50 years old scrap metal.
      Russia would have offered to pay for dismantling the floating scrap metal, but we are not told how much. In addition Sirisena says he is willing to pay $200 million. All in all Dayan, the thug in uniform and Hopper would benefit more than $200 million.

      When did you switch sides from carrying Mahinda’s b***s to Hopper’s?

      By the way what is in it for you?

  • 6
    0

    Lanka News. When thousands of people are unable to find three square meals for their family, our tax payers are spending 120 million annually in feeding our already overfed, obese politicians during parliament sessions (so that they can take a good uninterrupted nap ) .The cost of water usage runs up to 9 million , when there are wide spread areas , now facing severe drought. I do not know whether there are other countries who too are feeding their politicians like we do. Definitely not India, because the will be in billions if thousands of their politicians are provided with free / subsidized meals. Our politicians are provided salary, free housing, food, transport, health, security and all the rest , to do nothing and in many to cause more harm.

    • 2
      0

      Tell nagananda to state in his manifesto that the first thing he will do is scrap the meals provided by taxpayers in parliament.A private operator charging market rates can be allowed if necessary.Otherwise let them go and get their meals out or bring it from home just like the taxpayers do.These are the things that naga will get votes for.Another thing he should sate is that he will restrict the members to 100.

  • 3
    0

    we report. you decide.

    what games are played at our expense

  • 0
    0

    Lot of stories is surrounding these. This ship is not for fight, but for much other operation. It is well known the Avant Garde’s illegal trades. It is not the sales commission, it beyond that remains to be benefited. When a Pakistan ship was coming with Badu, America called and told about it to Chitanta government. They, in turn, called the ship and had it path changed. If you own a ship, you can avoid that kind of difficult situations in your own ports.
    New King started to hang the smugglers of drug only after Sunday Times hoax that Sumanthiran is forcing the police to release the smugglers. Then New King said that LTTE was funding its war by drug dealing with its own ships. Additional benefit of that statement is it opens the path to hang maximum Tamil prisoners. So the out of the 20 listed to hang, 50% are Tamils.
    American ship is also not functioning as war ship. You know, if there is a war in Indian Ocean then American, Indian Navy would like they fight the war, not Lankawe. So, the ships donated by Indian, American governments are mainly Coast Guard ships, not ideal for naval wars. American ship already proved it. It is just few week in Indian Ocean waters. About two weeks ago it spotted (Not really- somebody tipped it) a drug smuggling Pakistani-Iran joint operation ship and escorted it to Galle. Apparently this caught ship has something to do with Lankawe. That is why it was lurking near Lankawe in high see. Further, Lankawe will not go to hurt Pakistan or Iran on their business. So, never anything will come out of this investigation. Many Lankawe masters from many different spots (including foreign embassies of many different countries) are managing the total racketeering operation called Lankawe.
    We can be kept pushed around by international Coast Guards like this forever! This is why we need our own ship.

  • 2
    0

    SL is like a banana republic. Only country where an accused murder accomplice who is out on bail is appointed as the Chief of Defense Staff and his term extended every six months. Is the person appointing him, the President lunatic or what?

  • 0
    0

    Shankar, I think Naga has already stated in his interview, his parliament will consist of 60 or 70 members. Less mouth to feed, for tax payers.

  • 2
    0

    Yes Naga has said that 60 MPs only and no free meals or pensions or permits – in fact all current ‘privileges’ will go.Further entire top level judiciary is retired and he will by end August nominate probables of required persons for the top courts. Read entire constitution published. Only a total amputation will save patient Sri Lanka from these two evil parties taking turns to deceive.

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