Translated material
Winter will feed summer
The White Olympics will bring investments worth 327.2 billion rubles to the Sochi region
The idea of turning the resort city of Sochi, which for many Russians was associated with the words “summer vacation,” into the capital of the Winter Olympic Games, has now become familiar. Just a year ago, conversations on this topic caused surprise and skeptical smiles among Sochi residents. Now emotions have been replaced by sober calculation. A Vremya Novostey correspondent was convinced of this after spending several days in the Black Sea city after it became known that Sochi had become an official candidate for hosting the 2014 Olympics.“What do I think about our city reaching the finals? - the bartender of one of the cafes on the embankment asked me. - And in any case, we will not be left at a loss. We win - good. No - they still promise to renovate the city, and they will build sports facilities. It’s great that we will have work both in summer and winter.”
My interlocutor’s opinion seems to be shared by the majority of townspeople. In any case, if you believe official statistics, 84% of Sochi residents support the idea of holding the Games. Nevertheless, getting into the top three finalists was a surprise for some Sochi residents with whom I managed to communicate. The general mood can be expressed in the following phrase: we, of course, believed, but did not hope that we would go so far.
Apparently, many people who can call themselves simply fans are confused by the fact that it is not yet possible to look at future Olympic venues. They simply don't exist. With the possible exception of a few turntable lifts; the so-called “ski base”, where skiers and biathletes will live (several wooden mansions and a couple of stone buildings were erected there), and a symbolic stone on the territory of the future Olympic Park in the Imereti Valley, where the main press centers, the Olympic village and sports palaces will be located .
Recently, the head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Leonid Tyagachev himself, described the situation with the construction, in particular, of the Rosa Khutor ski resort in Krasnaya Polyana, saying, “the horse has not yet lain there.” To which Vladimir Potanin, the head of the Interros company financing this project, responded as follows: “The construction of this base is a serious business project. Everything in it is quite clearly planned, and all phases are spelled out. The first work required for construction has already begun. In particular, supports have been installed and the banks of the mountain river have been strengthened.” Regarding the comment by the President of the ROC, Potanin noted that everyone wants to do everything faster and better. “But you know, all people, including me, like to command, and when you start doing it with your hands, everything turns out to be very complicated and slow,” added the head of Interros. According to Potanin, there is plenty of time until 2014, and you can work calmly. However, due to bureaucratic delays, the launch date for the ski facility may be delayed by a year; in this case, we are talking about the launch of the facility in 2008. The size of investments for base construction has also changed. Due to some changes - moving the finish area, increasing the number of ski lifts - the amount of costs under the business plan increased to $308 million.
In total, in connection with the Olympics, 327.2 billion rubles will be invested in the development of the region over eight years, according to the federal target program (FTP), adopted in June of this year. Of these, 60% is financed from budgets of all levels, and 40% is extra-budgetary. True, the Federal Target Program provides for two scenarios. If Sochi wins the right to host the Games, all program plans will be implemented in full. In case of defeat, the maximum amount of funding will be reduced by approximately three times and will amount to 124.9 billion rubles, of which 55% will come from budgets of various levels. According to the second scenario, only those components of the federal target program will be implemented that are necessary to form a modern mountain-climatic resort and create conditions for training and competitions in sports, many of which are called “emigrant” in Russia today.
The Vremya Novostei correspondent did not miss the opportunity to ask the opinion of the athletes themselves who flew to Sochi. “Before this, I had never been to Sochi,” admitted biathlete Nikolai Kruglov. - And, frankly, I was shocked when I found out that the city was going to host the Winter Olympics. But today there is so much information on this matter that I am convinced that the possibilities for holding the Olympics are very real. If the matter is brought to its logical conclusion and a multi-sports center is built here, then we will all win.”
“Everyone really hopes that the city will also become a winter resort,” explained Sochi resident bobsledder Alexei Voevoda. - However, be that as it may, I am glad that Russia will have its own bobsleigh and luge track. We asked to make it covered. There are no such analogues in the world. So that no weather conditions prevent us from winning the Olympics, as happened in Turin.”
“I am an athlete, a performer, and so far no one has been interested in my opinion about the future luge track,” said luger Albert Demchenko. -- For what? My job is to perform and make people laugh. I think that at the moment there is a twofold situation. And our opponents are strong, but Sochi also has great chances.”