Russian State Corporation Olympstroy has stepped up environmental requirements for investors and contractors doing construction work for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
"Environmental monitoring will involve checking the existence of permits, including state examinations, licenses, contracts for water use, quotas and permits for emissions and waste water," Olympstroy said in a statement, adding that financial penalties will be given for failure to comply with environmental standards.
Olympstroy said the international standards of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) are incorporated in the new requirements.
The construction company was criticized by the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund in March for damaging the local environment.
"These Olympic Games have no chance of being 'green' anymore, as serious irreversible damage to unique ecosystems has already been caused," the fund said.
Olympstroy denied this claim and said all necessary measures had been taken to avoid damaging the local ecosystem.
MOSCOW, May 6 (RIA Novosti)
