The Sri Lankan delegation also included Thalatha Atukorale, Minister of Foreign Employment and Minister of Justice, Lakshman Senewiratne, State Minister of Science, Technology and Research, Mavai S. Senathirajah, Member of Parliament, Dhammika Dasanayake, Secretary-General of Parliament, and the Chief of Protocol of the Parliament Upali Kumarasinghe. The delegation was also joined by Dr. Saman Weerasinghe, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Russia and Dulmith Waruna, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Russia.
The opening ceremony was presided over by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the Chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko.
During his official visit, the speaker conducted a series of high level discussions with representatives of Russian state authorities.
One of the key meetings was held with the Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Evgeniy Bushmin, during which both Sri Lankan and Russian delegations highlighted that this year the two countries celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. It was noted that currently Sri Lanka and Russia are at the stage of active enhancement of cooperation in many sectors and both parties concluded that it should further expand into humanitarian and cultural areas.
On 14th October, the Sri Lankan delegation met with the Vice Governor of St. Petersburg Vladimir Kirillov. In the course of the conversation, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka highlighted the plans of the Sri Lankan Government to double the trade turnover between Sri Lanka and Russia. One of the promising areas of long-term cooperation, according to the parties, was the development of the tourism sector. "Undoubtedly, the launch of a regular all-the-year-round air service will help greatly strengthen our contacts," said the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg. This opinion was supported by representatives of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.