On February 8, 2017 the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Russia with the support of the Sri Lanka Tea Board conducted a Ceylon tea networking dinner reception at the Ritz Carlton Moscow Hotel in parallel to the 24th Prodexpo International exhibition and the visit of the Minister of Plantation Industries Hon. Navin Dissanayake to the Russian Federation. The event gathered 100 prominent representatives of the tea trade in the Russian Federation and Sri Lanka.

 During the event the Minister of Plantation Industries Hon Navin Dissanayake addressed the gathering and pointed out that he valued the support extended by the Russian importers and informed that Sri Lanka would make sure to increase the productivity of planation with the ultimate goal of maintaining the unique and high quality Pure Ceylon tea.
Furthermore, during the speech made on this occasion, H. E. Dr. Saman Weerasinghe, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Russia, pointed out the importance of the Global Tea Campaign initiated by the Sri Lanka Tea Board and expressed his hope that it would help Sri Lankan tea industry representatives successfully explore the Russian tea market.