MOSCOW (AP) — The budget for the state company overseeing much of the construction work for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi will be cut by two-thirds this year, a top Russian official said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, urged companies to honor their commitments in Sochi and organizers announced a $180 million top-tier sponsorship deal with state oil company Rosneft.

This year's budget for the Olympstroi company originally was set at nearly $1.4 billion, but now will be cut by about $916 million, regional development minister Viktor Basargin said in a a meeting with Putin's council on sports.

Basargin also said that some of the funds cut this year would be compensated for by money that had been budgeted in the past two years but not used. Olympstroi's CEO said about $330 million from the last year's budget was not spent.

Putin acknowledged that the country's economy is going through a "difficult time" and called on private business leaders to keep their promises regarding construction projects in Sochi.

"However hard it is, one should begin financing the projects or give them back to us," Putin said without naming the companies or specific projects.

Some of Russia's biggest corporations have committed to various Olympic projects — ranging from roads to construction of ski resorts.

Most of these companies have been badly hit by the crisis, including Oleg Deripaska's investment vehicle Basic Element, which is supposed to play a big role in delivering the Olympics.

Putin mentioned that 20 Olympic projects — which he described as "commercially lucrative" — still have not attracted investors.

Olympic officials said at a news conference after the meeting that these include the construction of four Olympic sites, hotels and power stations — none of which has been offered to investors yet.

Russia's economy has suffered over the past year, particularly from nose-diving oil prices, raising questions about its ability to put on the games.

The Sochi plan requires construction of almost all the venues and for massive infrastructure projects, including a light rail line to connect the ice sports venues along with Black Sea coast with the snow sports area in the mountains some 30 miles to the east.

The current Olympics budget stands at $13 billion, Basargin said.

Russia's deputy prime minister overseeing Sochi preparations, Dmitry Kozak, said last week that the cost of venue construction has dropped 15 percent due to reduced prices of building materials.

Rosneft, meanwhile, signed on as a domestic sponsors of the Sochi Olympics and Paralympic Games. Last month, Sochi announced its first major domestic sponsorship contract — a $260 million deal with the Rostelecom and MegaFon telecommunications companies.