When Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Austria’s capital Vienna last Tuesday (24 June), there was not enough time to go skiing, but he probably would have liked to.

Given the high stakes of Austria’s partly state-owned energy company, OMV, in the gas business in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region and the government's high hopes for a new gas hub in Austria, it is no surprise that Austrian politicians and businessmen are keen on keeping the project alive.

At the moment there is only one gas pipeline (Nord Stream), running through the Baltic Sea to Germany, that connects western European consumers with Russian gas producers without Ukraine as a transit country.

Now Austria is seeking the energy “freedom” that northern Europe bought in 2011, a freedom not from Gazprom’s and the Kremlin’s grip, but from turmoil in Ukraine.

Austria has investments worth €8.5 billion in Russia, while Russian investments in Austria run to about €10.15 billion. Meanwhile Austrian banks have more than €36 billion outstanding loans to Russian borrowers (which makes Austria’s financial sector a strong opponent of harsher Western financial sanctions).

Consequently, the atmosphere between business chiefs and the Russian president in Vienna was jovial, scattered with light-hearted references to a shared past and mutual understanding.

WKO’s president Christoph Leitl said jokingly that Austria and Russia both owned slices of Ukraine 100 years ago. An interjection from the floor, light-heartedly, calling Leitl’s long presidency of the business organisation a “dictatorship”, was answered by Putin in fine German: “But a good dictatorship”.

Political leaders, such as the Austrian president Heinz Fischer, said they also talked to Putin about Ukraine, urging a peaceful resolution of the crisis, and criticised human rights abuses in Russia.

However, the tone in the official talks appeared not to have been too harsh, since the Russian president lightly repelled all critique and quickly returned to geopolitical and economic topics.

The swift change of subject was assisted by president Fischer’s remarks, that the current sanctions against Russia “are not helpful”.

Dubbing Putin's trip as “working visit” instead of a state visit was a sop to western allies. But with meetings with the president, chancellor and business chiefs, it was all but a state visit. The only element that was missing was the traditional reception by the guard at the airport.

Defying all Western critique, such as from Sweden’s foreign minister Carl Bildt, Austria views itself as an intermediator between East and West.

Finally, there is a sense of Austrian Gemuetlichkeit ("cosiness") and Russian Druzba ('friendship"), which survives unperturbed by any geopolitical storm, domestic upheaval or historic change.

Because for Austrians and Russians alike, no matter what currently sets the world on fire, there’s always some time for a good ski-run, whether in the Alps or the Caucasus.

Info: euobserver.com.