The president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, will visit Russia on Saturday, on the first such visit in the history of bilateral relations, Russia's ambassador to Colombo said.

The working visit, to last until Monday, will become Rajapaksa's first foreign trip after he was re-elected the country's president in January. Russian presidents have never visited Sri Lanka.

"Bilateral relations of Russia and Sri Lanka have reached a new level. Political dialog shows positive development, and now the sides are willing to fill bilateral relations with economic contents," Vladimir Mikhailov said.

The two states are expected to sign a $300-million loan deal to buy military and dual-purpose equipment during the visit.

Russia is one of the country's largest tea buyers. Tea accounts for 90% of all Sri Lankan exports to Russia, with spices, clothes and medicines accounting for the remaining 10%.

NEW DELHI, February 6 (RIA Novosti)