The RBU was relegated to provisional membership in December 2017 in response to the Russian doping scandal at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and was required to meet 12 conditions for reinstatement.

Speaking to Russia's official state news agency TASS, Maigurov said he expected to regain full membership by the end of next year when the IBU holds its Congress.

"Our task now is to restore our full membership, this is possible at the Congress in 2022," Maigurov told TASS.

"After that we will offer our sites and stadiums for international competitions.

"At the Congress it is possible to make a preliminary decision [on the restoration of the RBU], which will come into force in the event of the restoration of RUSADA (Russian Anti-Doping Agency).

"We will deal with this issue."

Since September 2018, an IBU working group has been overseeing the restoration of Russia’s full membership rights by ensuring the country meets 12 conditions.

The RBU was ordered to help the working group with access to the raw data and samples in the Moscow Laboratory, sealed off due to an ongoing Federal investigation in Russia.

Among the conditions, the RFU was asked to reimburse the IBU for the costs of the doping investigations and trials as well as Extraordinary Meetings of the Executive Committee and Congress.

The subject is believed to have last been discussed in late January when Antholz-Anterselva in Italy staged the IBU World Cup.

"In Antholz, we were provided with updated information on the numbers," Maigurov told TASS.

"I do not want to name them, but we have already paid more than a million."

The RBU had paid the IBU €550,000 (£480,000/$665,000) out of €700,000 (£610,000/$847,000) by October 2019 but the amount owed had increased again by February.

Provisional status means the RBU does not have a voting right at the IBU Congress, but Russian athletes have been able to compete under their own flag at biathlon events.

RUSADA remaining compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is another key condition of RBU’s reinstatement and is viewed as the biggest obstacle.

It was declared non-compliant by WADA in December 2019 and Russia has now been banned from bidding, staging, or being awarded major events for the next two years.

WADA initially imposed a four-year package of punishments on Russia in December 2018 before a three-member Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panel halved the sanctions in December 2020.

Under the ruling by the CAS panel only Russian athletes who meet certain criteria will be able to compete as neutrals at events including the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Olympics and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Russia will not be able to host, or be granted the right the stage, any major events during the two-year period where the sanctions apply and it must be stripped of any World Championships it has already been awarded that are due to take place between now and December 16 2022 "unless it is legally or practically impossible" to do so.

The Russian flag, emblems or symbols cannot be used by their team at the IBU World Championships, while the national anthem cannot be officially played or sung.

A letter was sent by the RBU to the IBU criticising the governing body’s interpretation of the CAS decision.

The IBU World Championships is currently ongoing at Pokljuka in Slovenia.