On March 24, 2017 in the framework of the official visit of the President of Sri Lanka H. E. Maithripala Sirisena to Russia H. E. Dr. Saman Weerasinghe, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Russia, signed the Federal Agreement between the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in the field of fisheries.

The signatory official from the Russian side was Hon. Ilya V. Shestakov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation and the Head of the Federal Agency for fisheries.
The Agreement became another big step toward further development of cooperation between Sri Lanka and Russia in the sector of fisheries after several leading Sri Lankan fish processing companies had obtained federal lisences from the Russian federal authorities to import fish and seafood to the Russian market.