Dmitry Kozak: four criminal cases instituted on overstating cost of Olympic facilities in Sochi

In Sochi, four criminal cases were instituted on the facts of unreasonable overstating the cost of construction of the Olympic facilities. This was reported by Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Prime Minister, supervising the implementation of the Olympic project. According to him, it "may be a precedent in the construction industry."

The "Caucasian Knot" reported that, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), developers of the Olympic facilities in Sochi tried to steal more than 8 billion roubles by overstating estimates for the works: an attempt to steal 2.5 billion roubles took place during the construction of the bobsleigh track, and construction companies tried to steal 5.6 billion roubles more at the construction of the main stadium of the 2014 Olympic Games.

"At present, it is classified as an attempted fraud. Those three criminal cases were instituted on that very grounds, and their investigation is underway. It is a tough question, and it is for the first time in the practice of law enforcement agencies, in the construction business," the Deputy Prime Minister has stressed. He has added that there was "one more criminal case, which was quickly solved, and a small amount was returned to the budget."

"According to official statistics, the contractor presented the project documentation to the expert examination with one price and completed the works with the price, which was usually 30 percent lower," the "Interfax" quotes Dmitry Kozak as saying.

The Deputy Prime Minister has also noted that throughout the entire world, construction companies try to earn as much as possible on state projects. State expertise is just designed to identify cases of overestimating the project, the "ITAR-TASS" reports.