The London 2012 Olympics project could get bogged down in financial difficulties, while the two richest residents of the British capital have already subsidized an application to bring the main sports prize to their homeland - Russia. In contrast to the British problems of financing the Summer Olympic Games, the project to transform the little-known Black Sea resort into a venue for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games has already been fully paid.
This was partly due to the participation of Roman Abramovich, the owner of the Chelsea football club, and Oleg Deripaska, the owner of the mansion ranked as a monument of history and architecture in the Belgravia district of London. Last week, Deripaska overtook Abramovich, becoming the richest man in Russia.
40-year-old Mr. Abramovich spent part of his 10.6 billion pounds to buy a piece of land near the resort of Sochi and is building several hotels and private villas on the coast. And the 39-year-old Mr. Deripaska is busy building a hotel complex for three thousand rooms. If the Black Sea resort wins, this complex will become the main town of athletes.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Potanin, a 46-year-old nickel tycoon fourth in the list of Russia's richest people, is investing £ 165 million in the development of the neighboring ski resort of Krasnaya Polyana.
Mr. Deripaska, whose business interests include the world's second largest aluminum company, bought a new terminal for the city's airport. Inspectors of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), having flown into the city, became its first visitors, after which they were taken to the Rodina luxury hotel owned by Oleg Deripaska, a former sanatorium, the cost of a room in which exceeds a thousand pounds per night.
On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president and regular visitor to the slopes of Krasnaya Polyana, will welcome guests at a reception in honor of the IOC commission, which should compare Sochi's reconstruction plans with the projects of its rivals - the Austrian Salzburg and the South Korean resort of Pyeongchang. The winner will be announced on July 4th.
Payment for this event will not present any difficulties. In contrast to the confusing situation that has developed around the London project, here the issue of financing has already been fully resolved. The combination of funds from oligarchs, private corporations and taxpayers will raise 6.5 billion pounds necessary for the transformation and improvement of the region.
Although the functionaries in charge of the application will try to downplay the role of billionaires, which cause an ambiguous assessment in Russia, it will be difficult for IOC inspectors to notice how the oligarchs plan to change Sochi, built in the 1930s on the orders of Stalin as a southern seaside resort for Soviet workers. The city’s claim to sports fame is also confirmed by the fact that in Sochi, located just 45 minutes by car from the Caucasus Mountains, the former Wimbledon champion tennis player Maria Sharapova grew up. However, the city application committee hopes that large-scale reconstruction plans will also impress the IOC.
The director general of the committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, said: “The region has not received significant investments since the Stalin era, but now there is a big investment boom.”
However, the IOC members will have to call on their imagination for help. Last week, the slopes that the best skiers in the world should take were served by a lone, creaky chair lift 15 years ago, previously closed for safety reasons and only recently resuming operation. And the place, which in seven years will have to turn into an Olympic park with skating rinks and an Olympic town, now is a wasteland of 700 hectares, dotted with horticultural farms.
Responding to criticism of Sochi, which, in comparison with the more developed cities in South Korea and Austria, is no more than a “virtual application”, Mr. Chernyshenko persistently emphasized that: “The main advantage of our application is our“ clean canvas ”” . He added: “We are really lucky that Vladimir Putin is so supportive of our bid. He really likes this region. This is evidenced by how much time he spent here last year. "
Simon HART
© The Sunday Telegraph, UK, 2007