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Russia, Austria sign cooperation agreements ahead of Putin\'s visit

© Collage: Voice of Russia

Russian and Austrian companies and educational institutions signed more than 20 cooperation agreements in Vienna on Monday ahead of the visit by the Russian president.

"Bilateral cooperation with Austria is quite high on the list of Russia\'s foreign-policy priorities, and economic cooperation forms the basis of the bilateral relations," Russian Ambassador to Austria Sergei Nechayev said at the signing ceremony which took place in the Rothschilds\' former mansion in Vienna, which has been housing the Russian Embassy for more than half a century, Interfax reports.

Russian state corporation Rostec\'s Vice President Vladimir Artyakov, who co-chairs the Russian-Austrian Business Council, said that over 1,000 Russian companies today cooperate with Austrian partners, with over 200 large projects to the tune of around 1.5 billion euro "being at the stage of in-depth study."

"I am certain that even in this politically difficult time, bridges must be built, not destroyed," Austria\'s Deputy Minister for Transportation, Innovation and Technologies Andreas Reichardt added in reply.

For instance, RZhDStroy and Rhomberg Sersa Rail have agreed to jointly implement projects to build railway infrastructure, in particular, tunnel systems. The projects are expected to be implemented both in Russia and Austria, as well as in third countries.

"Sberbank Europe and the International Technology Transfer Institute have signed an agreement to support Russian-Austrian innovation projects. Its implementation will give an opportunity to obtain funding under European interest rates.

Austria\'s Frequentis specializing in aero navigation and communications technologies has signed two agreements, one with United Instrument-building Corporation, to manufacture high-tech equipment for speech and data relay, and the other with the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, to open an engineering and education center around an aviation cluster in the Kaluga region.

Also, Rosmorport and the Vienna trade port agreed to cooperate in freight services between the European Union countries and Russia\'s southern ports. The document involves the use of the Vienna trade hub for the most optimal freight processing and transportation.

Russia\'s PET-Technology and Austria\'s MedAustron and Diamond Aircraft Industries have agreed to cooperate in diagnosing and treating cancer using nuclear medicine methods. Under the document, the parties will not only jointly introduce new methods, but will also set up a network of diagnostics centers in Russia.

sputniknews.com, 23 June 2014