GENEVA, September 29. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov was appointed on Monday to head the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) evaluation commission for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games bidding states.

One more Russian representative was included in the 12-member commission. The second one is Tatiana Dobrokhvalova, senior vice-president of the Sochi Organizing committee for the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

“Each member of the Commission brings a wide range of expertise and experience and understands what it takes to host a sustainable, well-organized and ultimately successful Olympic Winter Games,” IOC President Thomas Bach was quoted by the statement as saying about the commission.

“At a time where we are finalizing our discussions around Olympic Agenda 2020, the upcoming visits of the Evaluation Commission will reflect some of the new orientations that we foresee for the bidding process,” Bach said. “It is an exciting time for the Olympic Movement, and I rely on the Commission to actively contribute to the shaping of our future.”

Zhukov, who is also the first deputy speaker of the Russian parliament’s lower house, was one of the main figures behind the successful 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Russia earlier this year.

In February and March, the Russian resort city of Sochi hosted the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, which, according to international sports officials, athletes and visitors, were organized at the highest level possible and provided up-to-date infrastructure at all levels.

Candidates to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games

Norway’s Oslo, Kazakhstan’s Almaty and China’s Beijing were earlier confirmed as official candidates to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

The deadline for submitting bids to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expired in November 2013, when six cities became official contenders for hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022. However, three European cities, including Poland’s Krakow, Sweden’s Stockholm and Ukraine’s Lviv have later withdrawn their applications for various reasons. Thus, only three candidates remained – Beijing, Oslo and Almaty.

The winner in the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics will be announced on July 31, 2015 at an IOC session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.