MOSCOW, July 5 (RIA Novosti) - Private investment in Sochi, a Russian resort city chosen to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, could exceed 500 billion ($20 billion), the deputy governor of the Krasnodar Territory in southern Russia said Thursday.

"There are plans to establish over 3,000 investment sites, and European investors have already started showing great interest," Yevgeny Muravyev said. "Substantial investment will go into construction, with plans to build four cement plants to guarantee that cement demand in the region is met."

Maxim Perov, a senior official at the Russian Regional Development Ministry, said private investors would be more likely to invest in tourism, services, and infrastructure, ranging from restaurants and thoroughfares to telecommunications and transport.

Perov said even if the sea and mountain resort had lost the Olympic bid, it would have attracted investment anyway. "The International Olympic Committee's decision [in favor of Sochi] has acted as a catalyzer, an incentive to develop the entire region," the official said.

Officials are currently considering establishing an interdepartmental working agency that will handle arrangements for the 2014 Olympics.