RUSSIA: OLYMPICS - Bid to stage 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi criticised by local residents and environmentalists

Russia is determined to develop its Black Sea resort of Sochi into a world class winter resort fit to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. The country has never hosted the Winter Games and is pushing hard to bring them to Sochi. However, nearly all the stadiums, ski courses, rinks and athletes' accommodation would have to be built from scratch, and these plans have run into trouble with local residents and environmental groups. Once a famous summer retreat for the Soviet elite, the southern Russian city of Sochi said farewell to its status when Russia's sun-starved holiday-makers abandoned it for smarter destinations abroad. Today, Sochi is making a comeback, but as a winter resort. Located between Black Sea coast and the snow-capped Caucasus mountains, Russia's warmest city is becoming the country's premier winter resort -- and bidding to host the Winter Olympics. There is a development boom in Sochi today as the city competes with other final candidates -- Austria's Salzburg and South Korea's Pyeoungchang -- to hold the 2014 Winter Games. Sochi would be an unique location for the Games. The main Olympic centre would be in the sub-tropical climate of the coast. The ski venues would be in the snow-covered Caucasus mountains that tower over the shoreline. Russia's President Vladimir Putin has thrown his weight behind the bid, earmarking 12 billion U.S. dollars and urging the country's rich to help develop the area. Even if the city does not get the games, Putin, a ski-enthusiast with a holiday house in Sochi, has high expectations for the area. "Most important thing is that we ourselves have the intention to develop our own resorts. We will develop the economy and build all the required conditions so people can have a nice holiday here," Putin told reporters recently after skiing down a newly-opened slope above Sochi to promote the city's bid. Halfway up the Krasnaya Polyana mountain, skiers at Sochi's only winter resort are happy with the plans for more lifts and hotels. "It is very nice to ski here, the nature is wonderful, the sea is nearby and everything is just great here. I like it very much," said Dmitry Budarov, a skier from Moscow. Sochi's changes are most visible in the villages near the slopes where land prices have sky rocketed in recent years. Real estate agents say prices have almost tripled in the last 18 months. Construction companies are working round the clock to replace Stalin era wooden dachas (country houses) with luxurious hotels and apartment complexes. But while Russia's rich are pouring in to take part in the Sochi boom, the locals feel left out. "What will these Olympic Games bring us? What will it give us? Absolutely nothing. The most important thing for us here is that they will bring us gas [to warm our houses]," said 66-year-old Katya, who has only coal to warm her house. Her house has no en-suite toilet and shower. Sochi's development plan expands to the city's coastal area, one-hour-drive from the ski slopes. A muddy field, the area named Nizheimeretinskaya Bukhta is the city's only patch of flat land. If Sochi gets the games, plans call for the zone to be developed into a complex of ultra-modern sport and accommodation facilities for the indoor events. Construction has yet to start, but the plans have already angered the locals, who fear the government will force them to evacuate their homes. "The maquette showing the Olympics objects that will be built here don't show the private houses that exist here. Why is that? I don't understand it. If they are not planning to move us away from here, why don't they show that this neighbourhood in the Nizheimeretinskaya Bukhta exists?", said Konstantin Petrovich. He said his ancestors settled in the area in the 11th century. His concerns are shared by other local residents. "Our ancestors died here. No one wants to move from here," said Ivan Tereutov. He pointed out that according the latest plans for the Winter Games, a small pond is planned on top of the local cemetery. Sochi's plans have also alarmed environmentalists who say some of the Olympic venues are planned too close to the areas nature reserves, home to endangered brown bears and red deer. "We are talking about these two venues which are a snowboard track and an Olympic village. It is really very close to the border [of a nature reserve] and it is in the buffer zone of the World Heritage site," said Piotr Gorbunenko, regional director of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the Caucasus. He said the venues would not only disturb the habitat, but also run over important migration routes. "Because people will be there and they will walk around, look around etc, and we just cannot protect the territory, so it would not be by people. And also it is a question of migration of animals, because it is a very important place for migration of bears, first of all." Gorbunenko said the constrcution could seriously harm the local bear population. "And if we will create a lot of development there, we will destroy this route and it could seriously damage the bear population here," he added. The Kremlin wants the Games in part to showcase Russia's revival as an economic and political powerhouse under Putin. Moscow says the Winter Olympics are long overdue a visit to Russia, one of the world's coldest countries where winter sports are part of national culture. Russian sportsmen have netted 33 gold medals in the last four Winter Games. Sochi bid organisers have promised members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to work closely with local environmentalists to find a solution. But with a strong desire to develop the area and lots of money and prestige at stake, it still has to be seen if the green lobby would get a say in the project.

ITN Source | March 9, 2007

Tags:. .wildlife. .territory. .medals. .indoor. .harm