Cameron was making the first visit by a British leader to Moscow for six years with relations between Britain and Russia at their worst since the end of the Cold War.

Relations plunged after Alexander Litvinenko, a British citizen who was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 in London five years ago in what is alleged to have been a state-sponsored assassination allegedly carried out by former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoy, who Russia have refused to extradite.

Cameron met Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for the first time and held a joint press conference with President Dmitry Medvedev and picked out the fact that London and Sochi are the next two hosts of the Olympics as an area where the two countires already work closely together.

"There are a whole range of sectors where we have complementary strengths which can boost our mutual prosperity, from supporting the modernisation of Russian railways to working together in the run up to the London Olympics and the Sochi Winter Olympics, where British companies are already working on the main stadia," Cameron said during his keynote speech.

"Cooperation rather than just competition is the way to stronger growth and prosperity for us all."

British-based company Populous have designed the main Olympic Stadium for Sochi, which will also be one of the venues for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which Russia is also staging.

The company, whose senior principal John Barrow was part of Cameron's team in the Russian capital, also designed the Olympic Stadium for London 2012.

Populous, along with·Colliers International, Arup, Mott MacDonald and IMG have signed an agreement to create a redevelopment and reconstruction plan for the Olympic Sports Complex Luzhniki. which as insidethegames reported last month, needs redeveloping in time for the 2018 World Cup.

They have been awarded a seven-figure contract for a 10 week contract to produce a feasibility study for the area's development and sports facilities reconstruction, ahead of the redevelopment itself in time for the World Cup.

Coe (pictured) was among the delegation who visited the Stadium for the official signing ceremony.

It was there in 1980 that he won the first of his two Olympic 1500 metres titles, with·Nick Baird, chief executive of UK Trade and Investment, to hear from a UK consortium of companies on their bid to redevelop the Olympic Sports Complex Luzhniki.



The London 2012 chairmed also witnessed the signings of Memorandum of Understanding between The Football Association and Wembley Stadium and Luzhniki Stadium on running a Centre of Excellence in stadium management to help with preparations for the 2018 World Cup.

The UK's tourism agency, VisitBritain, and its Russian counterpart, the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, meanwhile, signed an agreement to help exploit the potential tourism opportunities offered by London 2012 and Sochi 2014.·

"We look forward to working closely with the Federal Agency for Tourism and to assist it as Russia prepares to host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi," said Laurence Bresh, director of marketing at VisitBritain.

"By sharing our own experience from London 2012, we hope we will be able to advance the positive social and economic impact that comes as a result of hosting such a high-profile sporting event."

Under the agreement, VisitBritain will provide insight into destination marketing, encourage greater exchange of skills across the industry, and help foster cooperation between Russia and the UK on tourism-specific investment opportunities.

During the trip deals worth £215million ($341 million/€250 million)were announced, creating almost 500 UK jobs, with 24 companies taking part in the visit ranging from retail firms to engineering and financial services companies.

Among the biggest deals announced was one involed The Intercontinental Hotel Group, whose brand Holiday Inn is a Tier Three London 2012 sponsor and whose headquarters are in Denham.

They announced plans to open 100 hotels in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) by 2020, including in Moscow and St Petersburg.

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