17:59, 8 March 2014

Residents and guests of Sochi report about speculators at the entrance to the Olympic Park

Olympic Park in Sochi. February 2014. Photo by Tatiana Ukolova for the ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Residents and guests of Sochi complain about large queues at the entrance to the Olympic Park and speculators selling entry tickets at highly inflated prices.

Many residents of the city decided, on the festive day of March 8, to visit the Olympic Park. However, tickets could be bought only at the entrance to the park, said Tamara Kuklina, a resident of Sochi, who decided today to visit the Olympic Park with her friend.

According to her story, they stood in the line for tickets for about 1.5 hours. The entrance ticket costs 200 roubles.

"When in the queue, we were approached by certain person, who offered tickets to the Olympic Park. Five of them claimed 1000 roubles per ticket, that is, by 800 roubles more. We refused, but there were people who bought them. Not a single policeman appeared during these 1.5 hours. Speculators operated freely," said Tamara Kuklina.

According to sport fans from other cities, they were also approached by speculators, who offered tickets at 5-6 times of the nominal.

Author: Svetlana Kravchenko

Source: CK correspondent