Russia to cut EUR 6.5bn from Winter Olympics budget

The Russian government is cutting the budget for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi by EUR 6.5 bn, the state news agency RIA Novosti has reported.

Deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak revealed this week that a governmental re-evaluation of the budget made it possible to save RUB 300 bn (about EUR 6.5bn). 'We have fixed a 5% cut in the cost of these facilities in the budget," he said at a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Kozak said that the so-called Olympic heritage programme which suggests uses for the facilities following the winter games, has been drafted and coordinated with all departments concerned. The ideas include a sports training facility, also for the physically disabled, a children's aqua park and a multi-purpose sports centre, he said.

All the proposals will be presented at the MIPIM commercial real estate exposition in Cannes, France on 10-13 March, according to RIA Novosti.

Putin indicated earlier that the Russian government has pumped RUB 113 bn (EUR 2.5 bn) into the Olympics project in 2008. A further RUB 127 bn (EUR 2.7 bn ) is to be invested in 2009.

In 2007, the Russian Federal Target Programme guaranteed $12 bn (about EUR 8.8 bn) - a combination of public and private money - for the development of Sochi over the seven years leading up to the Winter Olympics.