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
“We had an ambitious proposal and a great desire to host the Olympic Games, but perhaps that was all Sochi had. Now Olympic venues are springing up right before our eyes. And this does not just apply to Olympic venues: the infrastructure of Sochi and the south of the country is also expanding. I'd like to emphasise once again that the Olympic venues and the related infrastructure account for a mere 20% of the cost for the entire project. We are building roads, an airport, a port, tunnels, flyovers, a natural gas pipeline, a thermal power station, eight substations and sewage and water supply systems. This is a huge effort to develop the south of Russia.”
“The World Student Games gain special significance on the eve of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Kazan will be a kind of testing ground for Sochi. Here we will perfect the system for coordinating various agencies and test the effectiveness of the mechanisms we have developed. And of course, we should make use of the experience we gain in Kazan in building sport facilities and infrastructure and resolving land issues. I want to stress that the administrative agencies of the two projects - for the Sochi Olympics and the Kazan Games - cooperate closely and share the experience they have gained. This makes us confident that the Kazan Games will serve as a worthy prelude to the Sochi athletic festival in 2014. I never doubt that good preparation for these ambitious events will help support the Russian bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.”
"Strict adherence to the time-scale is a must not only for the builders, but also for the designers. Besides, the growing scale of construction must be efficiently and fully provided with credit and financial resources. Vneshekonombank is to play a major role in this. It has already signed credit agreements for more than 32 billion roubles. Altogether the Bank has assigned 80 billion for the Olympic project."
"Let me stress again that the period ahead will see extra stress placed on dozens of services, the region's transport arteries as well as disturbing the habitual tempo of life for the local residents and those who come here on holiday. I urge all those involved in this process to think about these people, both those who live in Sochi permanently and those who come here for a rest. Let me repeat: our task is to minimize the inconveniences associated with this large-scale construction work, to bring them to zero."
"The close attention the IOC is paying to Sochi is understandable because ours is a unique project: for the first time in the modern history of the Olympics so many sites are being built for the entire Olympic Games "from a blank slate," on "green field" sites. In all the previous cases existing infrastructure was used. We are building from scratch."
“A total of 14,500 people are employed at the construction site and over 2,000 construction machines are being used. Of all the facilities planned, 123 are at the design stage; 42 are already past that stage; and construction is underway on 49 sites. The grand ice arena is at an advanced stage of construction. Local infrastructure is also being developed - the Sochi bypass highway is near completion.”
"The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics also require us to improve border infrastructure, including by constructing, rebuilding and reequipping checkpoints on roads and railways, and along waterways and air traffic routes. Providing checkpoints with up-to-date communications systems and a new generation of passport control equipment for the Olympic Games is also a high priority. We must ensure that participants of and visitors to the Olympic Games can cross our borders quickly and easily."
"We must make final decisions on the most rational location for Olympic facilities, and find additional opportunities to reduce environmental impact. We are obliged to protect nature against harmful, careless, or unprofessional interference. It is highly important to take into account constantly the advice of experts and the representatives from environmental protection agencies."
"The Olympic construction programme is fully funded, but it is clear that there are plenty of opportunities to save money on practically every project, including sports facilities, transportation infrastructure, and electric power stations."
"Two difficult sections of the road bypassing Sochi have been completed this year. The second stage of this project should also be completed this year. Such projects are crucial for the city and the upcoming Olympics. It is also essential to commission the alpine road leading to the Roza Khutor ski resort in time. In February of 2011, it will host the Alpine Skiing European Cup."
"Despite the economic difficulties, we have managed not only to retain practically all of the investors in Olympic projects, but also to attract new ones, for instance, for the construction of ice rinks. Previously, we had planned to use government resources to fund these projects. Nevertheless, we are still looking for investors for Olympic projects. This issue should be resolved without delay. It is essential that we meet the requirements for the number of hotel to be constructed."
"Anti-doping measures are of great importance. We are drafting legal amendments to streamline doping control and improve the prevention of prohibited drugs and techniques. The RUSADA independent national anti-doping organisation, established last year, is responsible for doping control in Russia. National anti-doping regulations and educational programmes have been elaborated."
"Construction agreements set additional environmental recommendations, the so called Green Standards, with stringent requirements toward facilities under construction and construction process itself. We intend to formalise the Sochi-2014 environmental framework strategy and several detailed environment protection plans this year."
"Environmental issues have a unique place in Olympic preparations. 30 projects have been submitted for environmental expertise so far. Fourteen have been approved, two turned down, and another 14 are under consideration."
"Work on the main facilities in the mountain and coastal clusters has started, just as the construction of four out of the six Olympic Park palaces. All told, five ice palaces will go up in the Imereti Lowland. I think it is too much for the Black Sea coast. There is an idea to make three of them mobile, and take them to other parts of Russia after the 2014 Sochi Olympics to develop winter sports and popularise the Olympic movement."
"The work has been meeting all deadlines. We find it one of the priority aspects of the Olympic project. More than that, many works are ahead of schedule. The cable road of the Mountain Merry-Go-Round complex, and several facilities of the Gazprom mountain skiing centre have been opened already."
"The overall estimated cost of the Olympic infrastructure is roughly 200 billion roubles. It includes roads connecting Olympic facilities, water and power supplies, sewage, etc. Federal allocations make slightly more than half of this amount, and investments the rest."
"I want to say from the start that the available managerial structure is very precise, and the Olympic project is being funded regularly. We have said many times that necessary allocations will come fully and in time, problems or no problems. And this is what has been happening."
"At the same time, I'd like investors to understand that neither crisis phenomena nor red tape should cause delays in starting the construction of facilities. Mr Kozak has received instructions on this matter."
"I hope that Sochi residents will not allow anyone to use the Olympic project for one's own ambitions, which have nothing in common with their interests. I believe that the leaders of the territory and the city's acting mayor should pay serious attention to this."
“We discussed allocations for the development of Sochi and southern Russia and for Olympic construction from the very beginning. We now realise that over 80% of our resources will be spent on the development of southern Russia and Sochi. This implies highways, railways, environmental problems, power supply and telecommunications. The remaining 20% will be spent on Olympic facilities. The Sochi-2014 project aims to develop one of the Russian Federation's most important regions.”
“I believe that the Olympic Construction Corporation (Olympstroi) and other concerned parties must step up their efforts in all these areas.”
“I realise that the allocation of land plots for Olympic construction projects depends on numerous objective factors. However, the provision of housing to people is the most pressing issue. We are preparing a major international event and festival, which will also become a festival for the entire Russian nation. We cannot allow this festival to create problems that would mar the life of even one Russian citizen. Nobody must face any problems. Even if such problems do arise, they must be solved equitably.”
“I am asking the administration of the Krasnodar Territory and other concerned agencies to assess real housing demand during the resettlement of private individuals. They must equitably assess the price of sequestrated land and other property in line with the current real-estate market situation, the price of new housing and to conduct equal exchanges. Such equal exchanges must not cause any losses for private individuals. Nor must they lead to violations by any party or cause any sponging attitudes.”
“I would like to say from the very outset that we are preparing intensively for the upcoming Olympic Games. Right now, I had an opportunity to speak to journalists working at the same centre in Sochi. They believe that local developments are quite positive. Representatives of the International Olympic Committee who have visited Sochi less than a month ago have also noted this.”
“One more serious question on our agenda is linked to preparations for the Olympics in Sochi. VEB is designed to be a major money lender to the companies involved in the construction of Olympic facilities. In the conditions of the global crisis, this will allow builders to attract long-term loans on acceptable terms, given, of course, proper guarantees of compliance with commitments. I consider it necessary for VEB to issue loans exclusively for the payment of the work done. Needless to say, its real scope and costs should be permanently monitored.”
“You know how considerate we are of the environment. Our Olympic blueprints are ecologically sound. The Russian Government has adopted an ad hoc programme for the environmental aspects of preparations for the 2014 Olympics. On expert insistence, we have shifted the sites of three key Olympic projects from the buffer zone of the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve. Everything has been coordinated on the whole, as far as I know.”
“I want to stress that, despite global financial and economic problems that are also affecting Russia, whatever concerns the Olympic project in the broad sense is protected by relevant budget items with guaranteed funding. None of the Russian and foreign investors-we have foreign investors, too-have given up initial intentions, mainly due to the high investment potential of the Russian south, particularly the Krasnodar Territory. Federal budget allocations to related purposes amounted to 113 billion roubles in 2008, plus an additional 127 billion in 2009. As you know, we have adopted a three-year budget and necessary sums are earmarked for every subsequent period.”
“This work is among our top priorities not only because it is preparation for Olympics but also because it is a comprehensive plan for the development of southern Russia, so Olympic and developmental goals fully coincide in this sense.”
“We are paying special attention to human rights in the context of our Olympic efforts. Proprietors are entitled to compensation for their land in keeping with market prices. We have determined to offer them a choice between ready housing, new land plots, or monetary compensation, and have amended the Olympic Law accordingly.”
“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".