VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
“There are 20, even 21, ongoing projects, and they will be ready for test competitions by 2012. We finished the initial start-up complex of the railway freight yard last year to accept up to 5 millions tonnes a year of construction materials and equipment. Another start-up complex, for an annual 14 millions tonnes, will be ready this year. We will soon start work at the Sochi cargo seaport, which means we will be ready with practically the entire logistic infrastructure for mass-scale construction.”
"We must study everything that concerns the preparation for the Beijing Olympics. Our Chinese partners' best practices are to be meticulously analyzed and taken into consideration. It is also important to follow organisational differences in preparation for the Vancouver and London Olympics".
"We would like to begin the process of establishing an Olympic University in Russia, in Sochi. It seems to me that it is a very interesting project with high potential".
"Upsetting the balance of nature may create a situation you cannot get out of for love or money. So I consider it necessary to shift these facilities to other sites to be agreed with the International Olympic Committee".
"In choosing between priorities – funding or the environment – we have opted for the environment. Our reasoning was this: a new project may be costlier, but the possible bill from nature might be so enormous as to be beyond any financial compensation. We should preserve the uniqueness of Sochi for this and future generations".
"The starting idea was not only to make the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi a sports pageant for the country and the world, but also to give southern Russia a facelift, in particular the Greater Sochi area, where hundreds of thousands of Russians holiday every year. This implied the improvement of all types of infrastructure - transport and energy - and the improvement of the environment, because all that we are making here must serve our people. To do otherwise would be to make the entire project pointless".
"All projects and all work on Olympic facilities will be conducted completely openly. All disputes will be spotted and resolved in dialogue with the environmentally minded public and international non-governmental organizations".
"Transport and the environment are at the top of the agenda and will continue to enjoy priority. Altogether, we plan to build 35 transport and 18 nature conservation projects.<…> Now concerning the environment. Our core idea is to observe all environmental requirements. Sochi, its nature reserves and the biosphere preserve are our treasures. We prize them and will do everything to keep them and the place unique".
"First, as we had expected, Russian business has displayed considerable interest in the Olympic project. That is good news. Investors in 59 infrastructure and tourist facilities have been identified. It means that the load on the state budget will be diminished. The organisational and technological resources of Russian companies will be actively used".
