Citizens of Sri Lanka warmly welcome Russian tourists and value their contribution to the island’s economy, Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardana said in an interview with Sputnik.
“We are warmly welcoming Russian tourists, we don’t have any special barriers for Russian tourists,” he said, adding that the Sri Lankan people “really appreciate this Russian contribution to Sri Lankan tourism industry.”
The minister also said that almost 30,000 tourists from Russia visited Sri Lanka in February, while a total of over 100,000 foreign tourists came to Sri Lanka that month.
In 2022, Sri Lanka experienced its worst economic crisis since the country gained independence in 1948.
The crisis was caused by a shortage of foreign exchange resulting from decrease of the tourist flow due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions. It left the country unable to buy enough fuel, with people facing acute scarcity of food and basic necessities, heating fuel, and gas. Many regions had power outages.
In February, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Moscow Janita Liyanage told Sputnik that the country was negotiating a loan for fuel purchase with Russia and was planning to open a trading house in Russia to increase the deliveries of tea, coconut-based products, and spice. Liyanage also invited Russian business to invest in the island’s economy.
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