VIENNA, June 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian and Austrian companies have signed over 20 agreements on cooperation on the eve of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit scheduled for June 24.

“Bilateral cooperation with Austria plays an important role in Russia’s foreign policy priorities. Economic cooperation provides the foundation for bilateral contacts,” Russian Ambassador to Austria Sergei Nechayev said on Monday.

Vice-President of Russia’s state corporation Rostechnologii, Vladimir Artyakov, said over 1,000 Russian companies had maintained contacts with Austrian partners.

“Over 200 projects at the amount of about €1.5 billion are currently being finalized,” Artyakov said.

“I’m sure that in such hard times it is necessary to build bridges and not destroy them,” Austrian Deputy Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology Andreas Reihard said.

RZD Stroy, Russian Railways’ subsidiary, and Rhomberg Sersa Rail agreed to implement projects for building the railway infrastructure, particularly tunnels. The companies are planning to implement projects in Russia and Austria, and in third countries.

Sberbank Europe and the International Innovation Transfer Institute concluded an agreement to support Russian-Austrian innovation projects.

Austria’s Frequentis, specialized in technology for air navigation and telecommunications, signed an agreement with the United Engineering Corporation for producing high-tech voice and data transmission equipment and a document with the Bauman Moscow State Technical University for creating an engineering and education centre in the Kaluga region on the base of an aviation cluster.

Russia’s federal state enterprise “Rosmorport” and the Vienna commercial port agreed to cooperate in cargo shipping between the EU countries and Russian southern ports. The Vienna hub will be used for cargoes handling and further transportation.