12:23, 4 September 2013

Putin: preparation for Sochi Olympics will cost 214 billion roubles

On September 3, President of Russia Vladimir Putin said that in total 214 billion roubles will be spend to prepare for the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi; and the state has allocated 100 billion roubles. Earlier, state officials estimated the expenses as more than 1.5 trillion roubles.

"Our country may have invested more than others into general preparation, but no more than others into the Olympic facilities as such. All in all, the preparation for the Olympic Games will cost 214 billion roubles," President Putin said in his interview to "Channel One" and the Associated Press on the eve of the G20 summit to be held on September 5 in Saint Petersburg. The interview was posted on the website "President of Russia".

Putin said that 100 billion roubles were funded by the state, while the remaining 114 billion – by investors. "More money was spent on the infrastructure – we did it deliberately to make the South of the Russian Federation attractive and comfortable, and not only during the Olympic Games, but for decades afterwards," Mr Putin has stressed.