The Russian Embassy in Colombo has expressed concern over the decision of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) to remove three prominent Russian State Universities from the SLMC Approved List “without prior information”.

On Wednesday, it was reported that that three Russian medical colleges which have been offering free full scholarships to Sri Lankan students since 1960 have been removed from the approved list by of the Sri Lanka Medical Council for this year.

Issuing a statement, the Cultural section of the Russian Embassy stated that the three universities had been removed from the SLMC Approved List, despite the fact that the SLMC held several meetings with the officials of these Russian Universities who came down to Sri Lanka throughout the past years, and that regular payments to the SLMC were made by the universities in order to maintain the membership. 

The Russian Centre also expressed hope that the SLMC’s decision will not influence the practice of providing Russian State scholarships to Sri Lankan citizens in future.

Full statement issued by Cultural section of the Russian Embassy:

With a history of over 60 years of diplomatic relations between the countries, Russia has been awarding Sri Lanka with scholarships from State Universities for Sri Lankan students to pursue their higher education, resulting in producing numerous notable professionals in the country, especially in the medical field. 

The Russian side is concerned of the decision of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) to remove three prominent Russian State Universities, i.e. People’s Friendship University of Russia (formerly known as Patrice Lumumba University), Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University and Tver State Medical University, from the SLMC Approved List without prior information, despite the fact that the SLMC held several meetings with the officials of these Russian Universities who came down to Sri Lanka throughout the past years, and regular payments to the SLMC were made by the universities in order to maintain the membership. 

Cultural section of the Russian Embassy hopes that the SLMC decision will not influence the practice of providing Russian State scholarships to Sri Lankan citizens in future, causing a loss of opportunities to young individuals to pursue their higher education free of charge in prominent Russian universities.