On March 24, 2017 Hon. Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Science, Technology, and Research of Sri Lanka and Hon. Olga Vasilyeva, Minister of Education and Science of Russia signed the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of science, technology and innovation

 Both parties pointed out that the MoU would be a great contribution to the development of bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Russia in the field of education and science. Given that hundreds of Sri Lankan students obtain higher education at Russian institutions, both parties expressed hope that mutual cooperation of Sri Lanka and Russia under the recently signed MoU would help increase number of Sri Lankan citizens studying in Russia.