All three major political parties in Russia have united together in full support for Sochi’s 2014 Winter Olympic bid.
The heads of the three political parties – United Russia Party, Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia – issued a letter pledging their support which says, “we assure the International Olympic Committee that we will actively contribute to ensuring that all of the requirements are met in order to make the Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Games 2014 a success. To this end the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation will ratify the Olympic Law with our support, which will assure the existence in the Russian legislation of all norms regulated by the IOC”.
Sochi 2014 bid CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko said, “a successful Games in Sochi is a goal that has united our entire nation right across the political spectrum. Politicians have joined with the general public to lend their wholehearted support for our bid and we can confidently state that there are now 143 million passionate winter sports enthusiasts looking forward to hosting a unique and once-in-a-lifetime Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi”.
Meanwhile Sochi 2014 announced it has engaged the Security Systems Division of Siemens Building Technologies to provide the highest level of security should Sochi host the 2014 Games.
Siemens will provide a detailed analysis of all the technical aspects of the Sochi 2014 Security Concept using their experience working with the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games and Doha 2006.
Siemens has outlined an “indicative” timeline for design, integration and program management for Sochi 2014, including a program of coaching and knowledge transfer from the Siemens team to Sochi 2014. Siemens has evaluated and assessed the Olympic Security Overlay plans proposed by Sochi 2014 and provided an estimated budget for security systems to the bid committee.
According to Sochi 2014 the Siemens report details several large integrated security systems designed to support the safe and secure movement of people, materials and vehicles into and around the Olympic territories, using an Integrated Security Command and Operations Center (ICOC) in conjunction with local resources.
Chernyshenko said, “Sochi already safely welcomes four million tourists a year. If the city wins the Games, you can be rest assured that the Russian Government will provide all necessary resources to support Sochi in hosting a 100 per cent safe and secure Games. The implementation of a Games security system by the Russian Government, in conjunction with the advice and expertise of Siemens as a world security leader, will ensure that security is a top concern and is successfully handled”.
