Olympic GamesSochi 2014
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Despite appearances, that is, systems that give the impression of being'' the sites, the majority of Olympic sites in Sochi 2014 have been declared ready. '' An important exception is the Fisht Stadium, where 40000 spectators at the opening ceremony on February 7'': the roof and the interior concrete are not yet completed. When Akhmed Bilalov, vice president of the Russian Olympic Committee, was accused of being late on the ski jump in February this year, President Vladimir Putin scolded him on national television. And Bilalov has left the country.
Thursday 17 October 2013 8 minutes reading time
"Of course we are ready - said the mayor of Sochi Anatoly Pakhomov adding that Putin does not call him personally but frequently visits the premises -. President of the Russian Federation is personally monitored the project." The Mayor then pointed out that the provision of'' water'' there will be throughout the Olympic area, there are 360 ​​km of roads and 25,000 rooms in the hotel'' s more. "We had nothing. We have built everything from scratch," he says.
These Olympics, estimated to cost $ 51 billion, are the most expensive ever. The Summer Games in London in 2012 were estimated at $ 19 billion and the Beijing Summer 2008 to about $ 43 billion. Activists complain that the'' environment has paid a big price. Construction waste have been dumped in the hills: it was said Vladimir Kimayev, a leading environmental supervision in Sochi, increasing the risk of landslides and the'' sending pollutants into the river Mzymta.
He added that the boulevard along the Black Sea was built too close to the water'' and that the beach was now threatened by erosion''. "This is impossible - said the mayor -. The project was approved by experts of state. If there were violations would not have been approved." In 2008, after a long dispute with the Russian Olympic authorities, environmental groups were able to convince Putin, then prime minister, to move the bobsleigh and the Olympic village in the mountains in a less harmful. There followed a period of close co-operation that ended early 2010'' s.
"We have monthly meetings and we'' d agree on many ways in which things could be done better," said Igor Chestin, director general of WWF Russia -. Then nothing happened so we withdrew from all over the project. "Chestin added that the work went forward so rapidly that there'' was time for a proper environmental impact study. The halls for indoor events were built near the Black Sea, on land that had never been considered because it was too swampy. Not only were disturbed habitats of animals, especially of birds, amphibians and reptiles, according to Chestin, but the buildings were built on the foundations that might be unstable.
A road and a railway leading from the coast to the mountain site cost several billion dollars and will be used shortly after the Olympics, according to Chestin. "Someone has calculated that it would be more convenient to bring everyone in the helicopter," he said. Russia would have had to move everything else, he says, perhaps the highest in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. "The choice was completely wrong according to Chestin -. In a country where 60 percent of the territory is covered by icy areas they have chosen the'' only place with a subtropical climate."
It is not expected that the criticized Bilalov can return home. The Mayor Pakhomov instead personifies the'' territorial pride, declaring that Sochi rightly deserves admiration for the creazioe of a seaside and mountain world famous. "No miracle. We put our work clothes and l'' we did." An editorial last week in the respected daily Vedomosti reflects skepticism, setting off the Olympic torch the status symbol of society, politics and the'' Russian economy.
The torch has been extinguished on October 6, immediately after it has been turned on by Putin and flow out of the Kremlin at night, and a guard near the'' he turned back with a lighter. Since then it has turned off at least seven times along the relay route. The people of Twitter has joked that when he goes into space should follow a rocket carrying a lighter. A factory in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk has done 16000 torches for a sum of 6.4 million dollars. It also produces components for ballistic missiles, raising questions about their quality. The Vedomosti quoted a blogger, Dmitry Gubin, saying that the torches had raised a mixture of embarrassment, shame, and malicious joy among Russians who see poor quality for cars and sputnik the same way.
"We want to be proud of our country and win races, but the preparations for the Games are progressing at our expense and without our participation - Vedomosti says - and what has been built will surely be brought down." These Olympics, according to Mayor Pakhomov, introduce instead a new, dazzling Russia in the world. "We are ready - he said -. Now we are engaged with fountains and flowers.'' And as a woman who puts on lipstick."
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