Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told ITAR-Tass Monday that preparations for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games are on schedule, but said there were problems with “prices and bureaucracy” and efforts to make easy money off the massive project. He added, “but we are taking decisive action”. Putin said, “there is no cause for concern that any aspect or portion of the timetable will be violated”. Russia is building most of the facilities for the Games from scratch.
Nineteen million pounds ($32.9 million) of contingency funds have been released for security improvements at London 2012 venues, organizers said Monday. The money, released in the last three months from the Funders Contingency, is to make the venues more blast resilient the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said. The Funders Contingency is used to cover risks outside of the control of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). Olympic minister Tessa Jowell said in a statement “the Olympic project remains on time and on budget”. It has also been confirmed that three million pounds of the original budget for the basketball arena have been released back to the contingency as they weren’t needed. Meanwhile Reuters reports all the main venues are underway with construction of the handball arena starting this week – two months early.
The Royal Canadian Mint has launched the third and final issue of the world’s first series of bullion coins honouring the spirit of the Olympic Games. Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint, said in a press release, “the Mint has been delighted by investor and collector response to the first two issues of its Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Gold and Silver Maple Leaf bullion coins and is looking forward to a repeat success as its newest Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games bullion coins are launched with only months remaining before the excitement of the 2010 Winter Games”. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin is made of one ounce of 99.99 per cent pure gold and bears a $50 face value, while the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Silver Maple Leaf bullion coin is struck from one ounce of 99.99 per cent silver. The reverse of the coins features an ice hockey player in full stride flanked by two maple leaves.
