The 31-year-old put pen to paper after meeting with RBU President Vladimir Drachev in Tchaikovsky, according to Russia's state news agency TASS.

In June, reports said that Garanichev and Alexander Loginov were the only members of the team not to sign the contract which covers areas including bonuses and sponsorship obligations.

According to TASS, the team coach of the Tyumen region Maxim Kugaevsk said that Garanichev could not sign it as he had not read it.

The triple European champion won his Olympic bronze on home snow in the 20 kilometres individual at Sochi 2014, a Games since overshadowed by the host nation's doping scandal.

In December, Garanichev was reportedly placed under investigation by Austrian police probing five Russian biathletes and five team officials for alleged rule violations connected to the 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen.

Sochi 2014 gold medallists Anton Shipulin and Alexey Volkov were also said to be implicated as well as Loginov and Irina Starykh.

Doping is a criminal offence in Austria with the International Biathlon Union (IBU) announcing later in December that they would be taking "no action" at this time.

Loginov was handed a two-year ban from biathlon in November 2014 after the re-testing of a sample from the previous year showed traces of banned blood booster erythropoietin.

He finished second in the overall IBU World Cup rankings last season.

TASS has reported that he is yet to sign the contract as he wants to consult with lawyers.

Due to the country's doping scandal, Russia remains as only a provisional member of the IBU.