IMF: completion of Olympic construction to have negative impact on CIS economies

Completion of the Olympic construction in Sochi will have a negative impact on the economies of the CIS countries, primarily, the economies of Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The above and other countries will face the decrease in the flow of remittances from migrants working in Russia. This was reported by the working group of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The "Caucasian Knot" has noted that in recent years, the 2014 Olympic Games remains a major investment project in the Southern Federal District (SFD). The massive construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi began in the summer of 2009. In total, the construction of 242 facilities of the Winter Olympic Games will take 214 billion roubles.

Summarizing the results of its visit to Sochi, the IMF Working Group has issued the report stating that the completion in early 2014 of such a large project in Sochi like the Olympic Games can temporarily lead to a decrease in remittances from Russia.

According to various estimates, the Olympic construction sites employed 70,000-100,000 persons. According the State Corporation "Olimpstroy", of the above persons, 22% were foreign nationals. According to experts and local residents, the portion of foreigners was approximately 70%, the RIA "Novosti" reports on its statistics.

It should be added that, according to estimates of the International Monetary Fund, in 2014, the unemployment rate in Georgia will increase up to 17.3% and get closer to the most negative rate on the post-Soviet Union area. At present, the highest unemployment rate has been registered in Armenia, where it reached 19% at the end of 2012.

Let us also remind you that in September, 53 workers from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Russia, engaged in the construction of housing for volunteers in the resort city, appealed to the Sochi branch of the network "Migration and Law" with a complaint about non-payment of their wages for three months.