TALLINN, August 17 (RIA Novosti) - The Estonian foreign minister said Thursday he hoped that Tallinn and Moscow would sign cooperation agreements in the fall this year.

"I hope that this autumn we will sign agreements on intergovernmental commission and economic cooperation," Urmas Paet said at the meeting with Konstantin Provalov, the Russian ambassador to Estonia.

Provalov, who has been the ambassador to the country for six years, is completing his diplomatic mission this year and will be replaced by a new ambassador, Nikolai Uspensky, in late August or early September.

The officials discussed further economic cooperation between the two countries and agreed that it was necessary to settle as quickly as possible the issue concerning the construction of a new bridge between two border cities, Narva and Ivangorod.

According to the Statistical Office of Estonia, last year the exports of goods to Russia increased 32.8% and imports grew 7.8%. The trade balance with Russia remains negative.