Austria signed a series of economic cooperative agreements worth 5 billion euros (about 6.4 billion U.S. dollars) with Russia on Wednesday, when Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a visit to the country.

According to a press release issued by the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Christoph Leitl, president of the Chamber, said Austria and Russia signed more than 30 economic contracts and an agreement of intent.

Among all the deals, the most remarkable one was an understanding memorandum for a project that was aimed at expanding natural gas storage facilities in Austria, jointly held by Austria's biggest energy group OMV and Russian company Gazprom.

On Wednesday, Putin told an economic forum of Austrian and Russian entrepreneurs that Austria was an important partner of Russia, and that the two countries' economic cooperation can contribute to their cooperation in other fields.

Putin hoped that Austria would support Russia to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), because Russia's entrance into the WTO would accord with the interests of Austria and the European Union (EU).

During his visit, Putin and Austrian politicians also discussed issues on EU-Russian relations and Kosovo.