South Africa Looks to Moscow for Energy Needs

Washington is likely to condemn the decision to have a Russian firm rebuild a gas refinery.

A coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Energy analysts say the country's national electricity regulator, Eskom, is on the brink of collapse as the nation endures lengthy blackouts. Eskom

JOHANNESBURG—South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) government has endorsed a sanctioned multinational energy corporation owned by the Russian state to rebuild a gas refinery.

The deal will be financed to the tune of almost 4 billion rands ($219 million) by Gazprombank, the financial arm of Gazprom, Moscow’s gas company.