The IOC is satisfied with Sochi's preparations for 2014.
On Thursday the International Olympic Committee's coordinating commission concluded their inspection of Sochi by dining with Vladimir Putin. In the two days that the IOC experts spent in the city that is to host the 2014 winter Olympics they saw, as Jean-Claude Killy said, "mind-blowing presentations and animated films" as well as the construction of the port and the Roza Khutor ski resort. The inspectors' verdict? Sochi's preparations for 2014 are on schedule.
"The work being done by the Sochi 2014 organising committee made a big impression on members of the coordinating commission" Mr Killi said at a press conference on the results of the visit. "I am sure that the preparations will continue in the same excellent fashion. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak confirmed that the Government continues to support the Olympic project as before", the Frenchman noted cheerfully before continuing "we are certain that all will go well for the organising committee."
The executive director of the IOC for the Olympic Games, Gilbert Felli, who is Swiss, seconded his colleague's opinions saying "no significant shortfalls in the preparations have been identified".
However the IOC experts expect that by the end of summer construction work on the majority of the Olympic facilities will have begun. They do not recommend delaying it. "You do not have the luxury of time for this project. The scale of work to be done on road and infrastructure construction and other areas is simply colossal" Mr Killy noted.
Gazeta has already reported that at the beginning of the year the Ministry of Regional Development estimated that the budget for government Olympic preparation programmes would be approximately 1.5trillion roubles, of which one trillion will be government spending. It is not surprising that those building the Olympic facilities try not to publicise such significant sums. Instead, Dmitry Kozak on Thursday again mentioned that the construction of stadiums and the infrastructure that they need to function will amount to about 206 billion roubles, of which only 118 billion will come from state coffers.
State spending on stadiums construction fell by another 12 billion roubles after the company Olympstroi found private investors for both the ice racecourse (the previous investor, Russneft controlled by Oleg Deripaska, refused to build it), and the small ice rink, said Kozak. The head of Olympstroi told Gazeta that "declarations of interest have already been made" but refused to name any companies.
The IOC coordinating committee will conduct their next regular inspection in a year's time.
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Vladimir Putin promised Abkhazia a loan of 1.5 billion roubles
This summer Prime Minister Vladimir Putin might visit Abkhazia. The President of Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, invited the Russian Prime Minister to visit the republic. "The invitation was accepted," Bagapsh said on Thursday immediately after a meeting with Putin in Sochi. He said he thought the visit "would be a good incentive for the development of the whole spectrum of our relations".
In addition, Putin decided to offer Sukhumi between 1 and 1.5 billion roubles in long term credit for the development of its banking system and railways. As the Gazeta correspondent learnt from the Prime Minister of Abkhazia, Alexander Ankvab, the supply of construction materials to Olympic projects in Sochi depends on the development of the railways. "Supplies depend on whether the transport arteries are ready - I mean here the railways. We can not transport bulky materials in lorries, it is not profitable," Ankvab said.
Maxim Tovkailo