Sochi 2014 head Dmitry Chernyshenko told reporters Thursday that work was starting immediately for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
He added, “the IOC will be online every single moment in terms of construction. There will be live video from all construction sites”.
Of the 11 venues needs for the Games, a majority will have to be built from scratch and the IOC noted in an evaluation report last month that “tight monitoring” would be needed.
Chernyshenko said $50 million was already available for the transition period from bid to host city and the first IOC visit to Sochi will be August 27-29.
He said seven years of preparations would be the catalyst for 20 years of development. “It will accelerate the development in the country and change the country”.
Chernyshenko said he would like to head the preparations for the Sochi 2014 Games after the “once in a lifetime experience” of leading the winning bid for the Winter Olympics.
Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told journalists Friday that private investors must make a significant contribution to finance the special federal program called “the development of Sochi as an alpine climatic resort in 2006-2014”.
He added, “the construction of all the key hotel facilities and restaurants will be financed from private investment, and a number of roads will also be financed privately”.
