- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

PM Zubkov to head 2014 Sochi Olympics presidential council

Subscribe
The Russian president signed a decree Thursday on forming a presidential council on preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and said Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov would head the new body.
BOCHAROV RUCHEI, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian president signed a decree Thursday on forming a presidential council on preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and said Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov would head the new body.

President Vladimir Putin said the council would be formed on the basis of the former Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport, with the aim of making preparations for the Olympics more effective.

"The council will be managed by a presidium headed by the prime minister," Putin told International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge at a meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Key Cabinet ministers and representatives of governmental departments and public organizations will sit on the council's presidium, Putin said.

Sochi won its bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in early July after a close race with South Korea's Pyeongchang and Austria's Salzburg.

"We will also form a structure within the Olympic council, to which we intend to attract the most authoritative representatives of Russia's environmental movement and international organizations, so that decisions on the construction and development of facilities and infrastructure will be subjected to thorough and professional analysis and be made openly," the president said.

Putin also said that in line with the plans, an organizing committee will be formed, to be led by Dmitry Chernyshenko, the president of Russia's 2014 Winter Olympics bid committee.

"We will form an organizing committee on preparations for the Olympic Games, which will work directly with our colleagues from the IOC. Deputy Prime Minister [Alexander] Zhukov will chair its supervisory board and [Dmitry] Chernyshenko will head the new body," Putin said.

The president also urged Russian lawmakers to pass as soon as possible a draft law on the 2014 Winter Olympics preparations in Sochi.

The Olympic bill outlines legislative changes required for establishing an Olympic state corporation to manage the construction of infrastructure and sports facilities in Sochi, to be chaired by Semyon Vainshtok, the former head of Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft.

The draft law also specifies Russia's obligations to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on tax and customs duties, intellectual property, and entry procedures to Russia for Olympic delegations and foreign nationals involved in the event.

Once the Olympic law has been approved, land allocated for construction of Olympic facilities will be valued at market prices, and their owners offered monetary compensation, alternative plots of land, or new housing.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president arrived in Sochi earlier today with a delegation of IOC officials to inspect the preparations for the Olympics, and to personally congratulate Putin on Sochi's successful bid.

After his meeting with Putin, Rogge told a news conference that the Russian government was rendering all necessary support for Olympics preparations, and said he believed Russia would hold the games to a high standard.

The Russian government is currently implementing a federal targeted program to develop Sochi up to 2014, with a $12 billion budget, managed by the Russian Economic Development and Trade Ministry.

Deputy Prime Minister Zhukov said on Thursday that responsibility for managing the Sochi federal program would be transferred to the Russian Regional Development Ministry, headed by ministry's recently appointed chief, Dmitry Kozak.

The Winter Olympics will be held in Russia for the first time. Moscow hosted the Summer Olympics in 1980, but the event was marred when over 60 countries boycotted the event.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала