"Nezavisimaya Gazeta": "IOC COMMISSION TRICKED INTO THINKING POSITIVE"
Preparation for the Sochi Olympics is still marking time
The April 2009 deadline for the start of the active phase of the construction of Olympic facilities may not be met. Independent experts think that the authorities have not yet put in place the legal framework for a civilized approach to the confiscation of land owned by Sochi's residents for the building of Olympic facilities.
Last Saturday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin demonstrated the progress in preparations for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics to the Chairman of the IOC Coordinating Commission, Jean-Claude Killy, and the Managing IOC Director of Olympic Games, Julbert Felli. Mr Putin personally drove the inspectors along the new stretches of the bypass road, showing finished building facilities and assuring them that the global financial crisis has had no impact on the Olympic budget.
The Russian Prime Minister's presentation made a favourable impression on IOC inspectors. Jean-Claude Killy reciprocated by saying that Sochi had every chance of hosting an "exceptional Olympic Games". "There are in fact no obstacles to holding an Olympic Games that will surprise the world," he said. Vladimir Putin promised to speed up construction so that the Olympic facilities are ready for test competitions by 2012. If that deadline is to be met, the active stage of construction must begin in April.
Valery Suchkov, member of the non-governmental Urban Construction Council of Sochi, has his doubts. He thinks that the official plans to launch construction in the Imereti Valley in April are groundless. The issue of resettling the population there has not been solved. The capital of the 2014 Olympiad has yet to approve the construction master plan, the zoning scheme, or the territorial layout scheme. In other words, Sochi does not have a single document that makes it possible to take civilized and lawful decisions, which is essential for condemning land for Olympic construction, Mr Suchkov says.
The Governor has signed more than 200 executive orders on the confiscation of land plots from citizens. Under the law, they have to be offered a choice between financial compensation or matching housing. However, not a single house has been built for the exchange stock. People are offered just money, and the evaluation of the confiscated property falls short of its real value. For example, a plot of 1100 square metres and a house with a floor space of 100 square meters in the Imereti Valley fetches their owners 12.75 million roubles, with the house value put at 800,000 roubles. "This is a travesty. You can't buy anything in Sochi with that amount of money," says Mr Suchkov, adding that the owners have demanded compensation in kind, but the authorities don't want to hear about it.
This story belies the words of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who claims that the citizens have been offered a choice and that "money has been earmarked for the construction of housing proceeding from the results of the stock-taking conducted in the Krasnodar Territory, the inventory of whether citizens need money or flats."
Vitaly Mozharovsky, a partner with the Goltzblat BLP Company, draws attention to the highly positive official reporting of the preparations for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The expert thinks this outward positivity means that there are certain filters that hush up problems. And yet, Mr Mozharovsky argues, not everything can be quite so smooth in the preparation for the Sochi Olympics if the city has seen four mayors replaced within less than two years.
Financial support is another sore spot in the 2014 Olympics preparations. Vladimir Putin assured the IOC experts that budget financing will not be reduced in spite of the crisis. For his part Mr Kozak expressed confidence that major corporations will share 75% of the sponsorship of all the preparations and holding of the Olympic Games with the Government.
The Deputy Prime Minister is less categorical about the forecasts that say that budget money can be saved. He admitted to journalists that it is impossible to predict what the ongoing processes in the world economy hold in store. On the one hand, the rouble exchange rate is changing, but on the other hand, building materials are becoming cheaper and there is tougher competition for contracts. However, the devaluation of the rouble to the dollar and euro, which will soon reach 50% of its rate at the time the Olympic budget was approved, may eat up all the savings.
Igor Nikolayev, the director of the Strategic Analysis Department with FBK, is sure that the rouble cost of the budget for the preparation of the Sochi Olympics will inevitably increase. The falling prices of building materials will hardly offset the rising tariffs for electricity, gas, and railway carriage (which increased by 25-30% in 2009). "Besides, there are too many foreign partners. They are also living through hard times. They are hit by the crisis. They may want to make money off the Sochi Olympics and will not cut their prices," the expert explained. To cover the costs, the Government will have to dip into the National Welfare Fund which, together with the Reserve Fund and the gold and currency reserves, form the cushion that secures the country's financial system. Such action would further undermine the precarious position of our national currency.
Igor Naumov
