Suchkov: IOC wants to earn money from Sochi Olympiad

The members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) closed their eyes on roughest violations admitted in the course of preparation for Olympiad-2014, because of corruption and the fact that the Olympiad has turned into a way to earn money. This was stated by Valery Suchkov, a member of the Public City-Planning Board of Sochi and an expert of the Public Chamber of Sochi on housing and utility services.

Mr Suchkov said in his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that "the IOC has been and still is a corrupted organization." "They wouldn't get into obvious facts - the city has no management system; there are roughest violations in the application book. Mr Putin promised ecologists to move a number of objects away from Krasnaya Polyana; and not only this. However, the IOC keeps silent," said Valery Suchkov.

A year ago journalists of "Novaya Gazeta" published an article entitled "Dusting Olympic Eyes", telling about a tourist route opened in Sochi under the motto "Repeat the route of the IOC's Assessment Commission".

Anna Lebedeva, a journalist of "Novaya Gazeta", said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that much of what was presented to the IOC inspection was just "a window dressing".

The taxi driver who took the journalist along the "Olympic route" explained that a year before that media kept telling about students with suitcases wondering around the unfinished air terminal of Sochi Airport: they were hired for modest remuneration to imitate passengers. By that time, the air terminal was not commissioned; they opened it in February 2007 just for two days: when the IOC commission arrived, and when it left.

And in 2008, the hosts of the future Olympiad repeated the trick: by arrival of the IOC people the new air terminal was opened, and after departure of honoured guests it was again closed.

Valery Suchkov suspects that there is a certain arrangement of the IOC with Russian authorities, which is not disclosed.

"Now, the General Plan of city development is suspended; they make endless amendments in it; construction goes on without any documentation, disregarding the consequences," Mr Suchkov has concluded.