Translated material
Launching a carousel
Dmitry Kozak received the first Olympic venues
On December 26, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who is responsible for preparing Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics, opened two facilities that are directly related to the upcoming Games - the Gornaya Karusel sports and tourist complex in the vicinity of the village of Krasnaya Polyana and the railway freight yard in the Lower Imereti Lowland. Together with the Deputy Prime Minister, the President of the Olimpstroy state corporation Viktor Kolodyazhny, the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachev and other officials took part in the ceremonies. All of them showed optimism to journalists and argued that the economic crisis would not interfere with the implementation of the Olympic project.Construction of the “Mountain Carousel” began in 2004. Dmitry Kozak, who was then working as the Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Southern Federal District, laid the first stone in the foundation of the complex’s cable car. Now in the carriages of this cable car you can climb Mount Aibga, to a height of 960 m, and ski along the trails laid where four years ago there was still a fir forest. At the moment, the length of the ski slopes of the complex is 7 km, but the construction of the “Mountain Carousel” is not completed. In 2012, when all the facilities of the “Mountain Carousel” are built, 70 km of ski slopes, 28 lines of gondola, chairlift and drag lifts, hotels, restaurants, rental offices and other ski resort facilities designed for simultaneous reception will appear on the slopes of Aibga 12 thousand people.
The Olympic site “Mountain Carousel” was made into plans to place a village here for journalists who will cover the 2014 Olympics competitions in its mountainous part: the starts of alpine skiers and snowboarders, ski jumpers and double athlete, masters of cross-country skiing and biathlon, luge runners and bobsledders. The Olympic media village will consist of 52 houses - cottages for journalists and buildings for the necessary infrastructure. Its capacity is 2150 people.
Descending from the mountain, Mr. Kozak and his accompanying officials visited the Lower Imeretinsk lowland, where in 2009 construction will begin on a stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games and ice palaces for competitions in speed skating, figure skating, hockey and curling. Here, on the seashore, the Olympic village and press center will be located. Dmitry Kozak opened here the first stage of a freight yard, the construction of which is being carried out by Russian Railways OJSC. So far, six rail tracks have been laid on an area of 25 hectares, including two tracks on overpasses, on which more than 30 cars can be unloaded at the same time. The cargo yard is designed for transshipment of inert construction materials. Its first stage is capable of receiving 5 million tons of sand and crushed stone per year. In 2009, when the entire yard is put into operation, 11 million tons of cargo needed for the Olympic construction projects in Sochi will be processed here annually.
Olympic Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak summed up the results of the day at the Sochi 2014 information center. The press conference was more like summing up the results of the entire outgoing year. The main conclusion made by Mr. Kozak was this: there is no doubt that the massive construction of Olympic structures in Sochi will begin in 2009 and end three years later, in 2012. “Olympic venues will spring up like mushrooms after rain,” Mr. Kozak said optimistically.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the government does not even have any reason to fear that the projects necessary for the successful holding of the Games in Sochi may not be implemented. No investor refuses their obligations. The Deputy Prime Minister admitted that as the economic crisis develops, investors have certain financial problems, but “investors are looking for money, overcoming obstacles, developing various financing schemes.”
By the way, as an example of overcoming obstacles in financing, one can cite the project of the sports and tourist complex “Mountain Carousel”. According to its shareholders, a general agreement has been concluded with Sberbank for further financing of the construction of the complex. In the near future, it is planned to sign a loan agreement for 1 billion rubles with Sberbank. The shareholders themselves have already invested about 1 billion rubles in the construction. own funds. At the moment, the total cost of the entire project is estimated at about 28 billion rubles, and before the crisis, the shareholders of Mountain Carousel named a different amount - about 40 billion rubles. The reason is a decrease in prices on the construction products market.
For the same reason, as Dmitry Kozak said at a press conference in Sochi, the Russian government believes that the Olympic Games will be cheaper not only for investors, but also for the budget. According to him, a number of financial parameters of the Olympic project have already been revised, because budget costs in comparison with the initial Olympic application have decreased by one and a half times over the past year. Mr. Kozak did not name the new amount of all expenses for the 2014 Olympics. According to him, now it is just being determined.
The “Olympic” Deputy Prime Minister told reporters about another way to reduce budget costs for the Olympics: the concept of “Olympic legacy” is being revised, that is, the question of what facilities necessary for the Games will be needed in the region after the end of the Olympics is being more carefully studied. By the end of January, the government must make a decision, and if, for example, it is determined that in Sochi the ice palace for curling is unlikely to be needed by anyone later, it will be made temporary and not a permanent structure.
At a press conference at the Sochi 2014 information center, Dmitry Kozak confirmed that Sochi residents, whose households will be seized for Olympic construction, “are striving not so much to receive money as to receive a roof over their heads in exchange for their houses.” And he said that in the spring the state corporation “Olympstroy” will begin construction of estates for displaced people. Construction will be carried out using funds allocated to purchase land plots from people. The houses that are built, Mr. Kozak said, “will also be priced fairly.” He emphasized that “...everything will depend on what kind of housing the resettlers will choose for themselves instead of the one they are seizing”: if the new house is more expensive, then people will be obliged to pay extra to the state for it, and if the new house turns out to be cheaper, then the state will compensate people the price difference.
On December 26, the State Duma adopted in the final third reading the law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation,” which establishes the possibility not to confiscate land from owners for the construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi, but to take it for limited use - an easement. Until January 1, 2014, it is allowed to establish such easements for the placement of communication and power lines, pipelines and other linear structures. Commenting on the adoption of this law, Dmitry Kozak said that the document has become more flexible and the possibilities of the Olympic organizers have expanded.