On Wednesday, the third day of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Evaluation Commission’s tour of Moscow’s bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, the commission spent most of the day in discussion with Moscow 2012 bid officials. The topics discussed included security, and the political and economic climate in Russia.
Alexander Chekalin, First Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs, confirmed to the commission that a detailed security plan has already been developed for the Games.
He said, “the compact nature of our Olympic River concept will enhance security management by focusing support on a small area of control. To boost our existing expertise in security which we have gained through holding numerous large international events, plans are already underway to equip the city with the highest level of international standard security equipment”.
In a previous newspaper interview Chekalin said that about 37,000 police officers will be needed to ensure security, 12,000 officers would work at sports arenas, 2,500 would handle visitors’ security and 15,000 would deal with law and order in the city. He noted that it took nearly double this figure to ensure security during the 1980 Games in Moscow.
He said that today the Interior Ministry has, along with vast experience, state-of-the-art security, communication and control means. “Moreover, today our personnel is more skilful, operative and coordinated”.
Later in the day the panel met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attended a spectacular horseback parade in the Kremlin’s Sobornaya Square.
The commission is scheduled to attend a lavish evening reception at the Kremlin hosted by Moscow’s Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.
Thursday, the fourth and final day of the tour, will include visits to venues including the Olympisky Sports Complex and Locomotive football stadium, and presentations on media operations and Olympism and culture.
The visit will conclude with a press conference by the Evaluation Commission and a press conference and final reception organized by the Moscow 2012 bid committee.
