Colombo, Oct 9 (IANS): The Sri Lankan cabinet approved an agreement to facilitate legally valid trade activities with Russia through transparent, predictable customs procedures, according to a statement from the government's information department.

According to the department, although the cabinet approval was granted on November 15, 2021, to sign a bilateral agreement to provide facilities for legally valid trade activities through transparent and predictable customs procedures after a series of bilateral discussions between the Sri Lankan government and Russian government, it has not been signed, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, the cabinet approved the proposal presented by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake who is also minister of finance, economic development, policy formulation, planning, and tourism to sign for it.

Trade between Sri Lanka and Russia has been growing significantly since the disintegration of the former Soviet Union in 1991.

Though Sri Lanka's balance of trade has been continuously favourable from 2007 to 2014, the gap has been reduced gradually with the increase in imports. Further, with the decrease in tea exports from Sri Lanka to Russia from 2015 onwards, the trade balance was facing a fluctuating trend.