OREANDA-NEWS. June 29, 2007. A 63 tonnes ice skating rink being used as part of the Russian city of Sochi’s bid to win the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has today been transported to Guatemala on board one of Volga-Dnepr Airlines’ AN-124-100 Ruslan freighters. The shipment departed from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport at 0221hrs this morning.

The large ice skating rink will be built in the city of Guatemala, where the International Olympic Committee meets at the start of July to choose a host city for the 2014 winter games. It will form the main arena for Russia’s final presentation to the Committee.

The Russian government has pledged US$12 billion through the Federal Target Programme as part of its guarantee that the Games in Sochi will be delivered on time and in budget if the city is successful in winning the Olympic nomination. On July 3, 2007, a Russian delegation headed by President Vladimir Putin will arrive in Guatemala to support Sochi’s bid for the games.

The delegation will also include Alexander Zhukov, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the ‘Sochi 2014’ Application Committee, German Grey, Head of the Ministry for Economic Development and Trade Coordination Council and world famous Russian sportsmen and women, including former Olympic champions.

The International Olympic Committee will vote on July 4, 2007, to choose the city to host the XXII Winter Olympic Games 2014. In addition to Sochi, the other cities bidding to stage the games are South Korea’s PyeongChang, and Salzburg in Austria.

Sochi is a multicultural city of 400,000 inhabitants representing more than 100 nationalities. Often referred to as the ‘Russian Riviera’, Sochi has a rich heritage as the nation’s major Black Sea port city, resort destination and is a prominent cultural centre. Sochi is in close proximity to both the European and Asian continents and is a convenient gateway to Eurasia. As such, Sochi has hosted a number of regional and European meetings, including the Russia-EU Summit last year.