The head of Sochi 2014 confirms that all the venues for the Winter Olympics, including the controversial proposal for the sliding center, will be finalized in the next few weeks. Dmitry Chernyshenko tells Around the Rings he is confident concerns over the proposals to site the sliding venue at Grushevy Ridge in the Krasnaya Polyana mountains will be resolved shortly and the venue plan locked down in July.
“From our perspective this is the best location for the interests of the organizing committee and international federations,” he says, adding that 2014 organizers had spent 18 months studying the site before concluding it was the most suitable.
Chernyshenko says 2014 organizers will assess the findings of a UNESCO report on the ecological impacts, due out shortly, before taking any further action. The venue site borders a UNESCO world heritage site.
“We will analyse all concerns and create some proposals for compensation of environmental impacts and make a final decision,” he told ATR in Athens where he presented a progress report to the IOC Executive Board meeting at SportAccord Thursday.
A report by the United Nations Environment Programme released May 31 claims the proposed construction of the site for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton and an Olympic village could damage the mountain environment and destroy wildlife habitats.
It called for Sochi 2014 stakeholders and the IOC to look into the suitability of alternative locations.
Gilbert Felli, the IOC's Olympic Games executive director, told reporters at a news conference that the issue was raised at the executive board, saying that he hoped the UNESCO report would be published soon to allow Sochi to move ahead with its plans.
Chernyshenko later restated the importance of environmental protection to SOCOG, pointing to its recently formed Public Ecological Council, designed to deliver a 'green' Games and sustainable legacy. The group includes environmental experts from NGOs including Greenpeace Russia and the WWF.
“This is our stated aim, not only to protect but enhance the environment of the whole region as a direct legacy of the 2014 Games,” he said.
Speaking to ATR after a press conference, he insisted Viktor Kolodyazhny, the new head of the state corporation responsible for venues and infrastructure, was working well to deliver the nearly $13 billion in venues and infrastructure required for the Games.
The former mayor of Sochi replaced Semen Vainshtok as the leader of Olympstroy in April.
Amid ongoing concerns about the spiraling costs of Games venues, Chernyshenko said the organizing committee “will do our best to keep to the published figures”.
Sochi 2014 will unveil “precise details” of its construction budget when the tenders for construction projects are finalized early next year.
The first draft of SOCOG's operating budget will be presented to the IOC later in the summer.
Chernyshenko also tells ATR that temporary housing to accommodate up to 200,000 workers at the peak of construction work will be developed in the Imeretinskaya Valley, site of the proposed coastal cluster of venues.