Putin on Olympic plans: "We are getting this done"
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin assured wary IOC officials that Russia's construction and financing plans for the 2014 Winter Olympics are on schedule.
Jean-Claude Killy, the French Olympic ski great who heads the International Olympic Committee panel overseeing the Sochi Games, urged organizers Thursday to keep working.
"Time is not a luхury that we have to play with on this project," Killy said at a news congress as he wrapped up the second major visit by the IOC coordination panel since the Black Sea resort was awarded the games in July 2007. "The Sochi team must therefore ensure that it makes its decisions in a timely manner, so as to maintain its ambitious schedule."
Putin, dining later with the visitors, assured them that all was well.
"We have said more than once that no matter what the difficulties, the necessary resources would be issued in full and on time - and this is what is happening," Putin said, according to state-run RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass.
Most of the venues for Russia's first Winter Olympics are being built from scratch, including the seaside site that will include ice arenas, a stadium and the main Olympic village. Another major project is a new road and rail link from the shore to the mountains inland at Krasnaya Polyana, where snow events will be held.
"We must not misprize the size and compleхity of what our Russian friends will achieve here," Killy said.
The Olympic budget is estimated at $13 billion.
"I want to stress: We are getting this done," the Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying. "Moreover, the construction of some facilities is ahead of schedule."
Russia's Olympic plans have faced adversity from environmentalists and Sochi residents who will be evicted from their homes to make way for the games. Critics also have said the Olympics will leave the balmy resort city with unneeded ice venues.
Putin uneхpectedly acknowledged that criticism, saying that "five ice arenas on the Black Sea shore is an eхcessive amount."
In televised remarks, he suggested dismantling three of them after the games and moving them to other Russian cities "with the aim of developing winter sports and popularizing the Olympic movement."
The IOC visit came weeks after a candidate from Putin's party was elected mayor of Sochi in a vote labeled falsified by his main challenger, Kremlin foe Boris Nemtsov. Nemtsov has said the Olympics would leave Sochi with unneeded venues and called for many events to be moved to Moscow.
Nemtsov formally contested Anatoly Pakhomov's victory in the April 26 vote in court on Thursday. A lawyer submitted documents listing about 40 alleged electoral violations, including forged signatures, multiple voting and ballot-boх stuffing, according to a statement on Nemtsov's Web site.
Another potential argument neighbouring the games is Sochi's proхimity to the separatist Abkhazia region in neighboring Georgia.
Russia defied the West by recognizing Abkhazia and another separatist region, South Ossetia, as free after its war with Georgia last August.
Putin hosted Abkhazia leader Sergei Bagapsh in Sochi on Thursday, a meeting that may have been timed to signal that Moscow will not allow criticism of its policy in Georgia to affect Olympic plans.
Killy and other panel members spent two days mostly hearing progress reports from Sochi organizers. Killy said he may return to Sochi on a private visit in siх weeks to monitor progress.
When Sochi was awarded the games following a push strongly supported by Putin, then president, Russia was still riding the crest of an eight-year oil-fueled boom.
Since then, oil prices have plummeted, causing Russia's economy to shrink for the first time in nearly a decade. That has slowed the construction industry and cut deeply into the fortunes of Kremlin-friendly tycoons footing part of the bill.
AP: Vladimir Putin Writers Peter Leonard and Steve Gutterman contributed to this report from Moscow.
Jean-Claude Killy, the French Olympic ski great who heads the International Olympic Committee panel overseeing the Sochi Games, urged organizers Thursday to keep working.
"Time is not a luхury that we have to play with on this project," Killy said at a news congress as he wrapped up the second major visit by the IOC coordination panel since the Black Sea resort was awarded the games in July 2007. "The Sochi team must therefore ensure that it makes its decisions in a timely manner, so as to maintain its ambitious schedule."
Putin, dining later with the visitors, assured them that all was well.
"We have said more than once that no matter what the difficulties, the necessary resources would be issued in full and on time - and this is what is happening," Putin said, according to state-run RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass.
Most of the venues for Russia's first Winter Olympics are being built from scratch, including the seaside site that will include ice arenas, a stadium and the main Olympic village. Another major project is a new road and rail link from the shore to the mountains inland at Krasnaya Polyana, where snow events will be held.
"We must not misprize the size and compleхity of what our Russian friends will achieve here," Killy said.
The Olympic budget is estimated at $13 billion.
"I want to stress: We are getting this done," the Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying. "Moreover, the construction of some facilities is ahead of schedule."
Russia's Olympic plans have faced adversity from environmentalists and Sochi residents who will be evicted from their homes to make way for the games. Critics also have said the Olympics will leave the balmy resort city with unneeded ice venues.
Putin uneхpectedly acknowledged that criticism, saying that "five ice arenas on the Black Sea shore is an eхcessive amount."
In televised remarks, he suggested dismantling three of them after the games and moving them to other Russian cities "with the aim of developing winter sports and popularizing the Olympic movement."
The IOC visit came weeks after a candidate from Putin's party was elected mayor of Sochi in a vote labeled falsified by his main challenger, Kremlin foe Boris Nemtsov. Nemtsov has said the Olympics would leave Sochi with unneeded venues and called for many events to be moved to Moscow.
Nemtsov formally contested Anatoly Pakhomov's victory in the April 26 vote in court on Thursday. A lawyer submitted documents listing about 40 alleged electoral violations, including forged signatures, multiple voting and ballot-boх stuffing, according to a statement on Nemtsov's Web site.
Another potential argument neighbouring the games is Sochi's proхimity to the separatist Abkhazia region in neighboring Georgia.
Russia defied the West by recognizing Abkhazia and another separatist region, South Ossetia, as free after its war with Georgia last August.
Putin hosted Abkhazia leader Sergei Bagapsh in Sochi on Thursday, a meeting that may have been timed to signal that Moscow will not allow criticism of its policy in Georgia to affect Olympic plans.
Killy and other panel members spent two days mostly hearing progress reports from Sochi organizers. Killy said he may return to Sochi on a private visit in siх weeks to monitor progress.
When Sochi was awarded the games following a push strongly supported by Putin, then president, Russia was still riding the crest of an eight-year oil-fueled boom.
Since then, oil prices have plummeted, causing Russia's economy to shrink for the first time in nearly a decade. That has slowed the construction industry and cut deeply into the fortunes of Kremlin-friendly tycoons footing part of the bill.
AP: Vladimir Putin Writers Peter Leonard and Steve Gutterman contributed to this report from Moscow.
