The Sri Lankan Embassy in Russia held a reception to celebrate the 70th Independence Day, at the Lotte Hotel Moscow, with the support of the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.
The chief guest on the occasion, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Morgulov presented Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia Dr. Saman Weerasinghe with a token of appreciation, at the request of Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, in appreciation of his dedicated service towards development of bilateral relations between the two countries in various fields, as head of the diplomatic mission in Moscow from September 2015 to February 2018.
The event gathered more than 175 guests among whom were officials of several Russian government authorities, Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Russian Ministry of Economic Development, ambassadors and foreign diplomats, including defence attachés from Europe, SAARC, ASEAN and CIS countries, academics, representatives of Sri Lankan and Russian business sectors and tourism industries, and other agencies. The Sri Lankan side was also represented by Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman Rohan Pethiyagoda, accompanied by an official delegation.
Before the main programme, the guests had an opportunity to visit an exhibition covering the history of Sri Lanka and its journey to independence, the tourism and commercial potential of the country, the Sri Lankan tea industry with focus on Ceylon tea, as well as the visit of the President of Sri Lanka to Russia in March 2017 and other activities carried out by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Russia over the past few years.
During the welcome speech, Dr. Weerasinghe expressed gratitude to the Russian Federation for the support and cooperation the country, as well as the Russian people, has extended to Sri Lanka over the last 60 years.
In addition, Dr. Weerasinghe and Pethiyagoda presented a token of appreciation to Russia Tea and Coffee Association Chairman Ramaz Chanturiya for the excellent service extended to the Sri Lankan tea trade sector, during the event.