Following the official visit of His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka to Russia which was held on March 22-24, 2017, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation His Excellency Dr. Saman Weerasinghe, accompanied by Ms. Chandima Kiriwandala, First Secretary (Commercial) of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Russia, met with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia and the Head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries of Russia Honorable Ilya Shestakov on May 16, 2017

 
During the meeting, both Parties discussed further development of cooperation between the two countries in the framework of the Sri Lanka-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation. Among the subjects offered for discussion were appointment of the Sri Lankan Co-chair and the dates proposed for the 2nd session of the Intergovernmental Commission.
Furthermore, H. E. Dr. Saman Weerasinghe, Ambassador of Sri Lanka raised the issue of establishment of direct air connection between Sri Lanka and Russia as well as cooperation between the two countries in fields of sea food exports and customs clearance of Sri Lankan gemstones which are subject to temporary imports.
Besides the Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia Hon. Ilya Shestakov who is concurrently the Russian Co-Chair to the above-mentioned Sri Lanka-Russian Intergovernmental Commission, the Russian side was represented by Mr. Sergey Simakov, Head of International Cooperation Directorate of the Federal Agency for Fisheries, Ms. Larisa Cheremisina, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Salavat Aklaev, Deputy Head of the Asia Section, Department of Asia, Africa and Latin America, Ministry of Economic Development, and Mr. Roman Eschenko, Chief Expert of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.