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Russia ready to host 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

Russian Deputy Minister of Regional Development Yuri Reilyan: we have completed the construction of all sports facilities

Russian Deputy Minister of Regional Development Yuri Reilyan who is responsible for the “Sochi mega-project” said in an interview published by governmental newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the country is ready to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

He called for cutting out the hysteria over the alleged failure to prepare all the Olympic facilities for the Games opening. The Coordination Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recently held its meeting here. It made the main conclusion: Russia is ready to host the Olympic Games and has fully complied with the obligations to the IOC, head of the Coordination Commission, multiple champion of the Games Jean-Claude Killy stated.

“We have completed the construction of all sports facilities, although not all of them have been commissioned yet,” said the deputy minister. The curling centre has been among the recently commissioned ones. Of all the sports infrastructure, only the ski-jump has not been commissioned. Its commissioning is scheduled for November. There have been serious problems with the engineering protection of mountain slopes. The risk of landslides and collapses has been liquidated by now.

According to him, the construction of the Olympic facilities has cost 214 billion roubles: 14 sports venues and the supporting infrastructure. The state has spent 100 billion or slightly less from these 214 billion. And 114 billion roubles were spent by investors. Significant funds under the programme for the development of Sochi as a mountain resort are invested in the modernisation of the city’s entire infrastructure that is not involved in the Games, but is absolutely necessary for the city.

As many as 640,000 jobs have been created during the construction of sports and infrastructure facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The Olympstroy company has more than 1,000 contractor organisations, and the Sochi-2014 Organising Committee - 600. According to the deputy minister, the vast majority of construction materials and virtually all metal (the Fisht stadium alone weighs 22,000 tonnes), plus temporary structures for the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies were produced in Russia. And only when all the Russian materials have been supplied, the organisers turned to foreign suppliers.

The vast majority of Olympic builders are representatives of the neighbouring regions. Among them there are large international construction companies, primarily Turkish. More than 96,000 people were working in Sochi at the peak of the construction, the deputy minister said.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin opened in Sochi a new railway terminal and pledged that all, “regardless of their race, ethnic or sexual identity,” would feel comfortable at the Olympic Games.