Русский
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with Vijitha Herath, the Sri Lanka Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the sideline of ASEAN’s ministerial events in Manila. Herath also has specific responsibility for developing Sri Lanka’s tourist industry.
The ministers discussed current issues on the bilateral and international agenda.
Sri Lanka has struggled economically in recent years and has had to be economically bailed out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who have placed strict economic conditions on the country to allow it to recover and get back on a better economic footing. This appears to be having the desired effect. Russia has also been supplying oil to Sri Lanka following problems with deliveries from the Middle East due to the US-Iran war.
Meanwhile, the Russian tourist sector to Sri Lanka has boomed, with many local establishments and services also providing signage in Cyrillic. Russian tourists are now the third largest source of visitors to the island after India and the United Kingdom, while direct flights from Moscow to Colombo have been available for some time. According to the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Agency, a total of 186,580 Russians visited Sri Lanka in 2025. It is of note that the southern Hambantota airport is also under joint Russian-Indian management.
There have also been discussions concerning Russian involvement in Sri Lanka’s energy sector. The country plans to meet 70% of its electricity needs from renewable sources, by 2030, and 100% by 2050. These may later involve Rosatom’s wind energy subsidiary, although financing such investments would need to be worked out between Moscow and Colombo.
According to the Sri Lankan Export Development Board, the total 2025 export value from Sri Lanka to Russia was US$151.29 million while total imports from Russia to Sri Lanka reached US$419.83 million, giving a bilateral trade total of US$571.12 million. Note this figure does not include Sri Lanka’s foreign income from Russian tourists, which will have reached about US$1.5 billion during the year.
Ceylon tea is a popular consumer product in Russian supermarkets, while various spices (such as cinnamon) are used in industrial quantities by the Russian food industry.
