OREANDA-NEWS. April 20, 2011. The two officials focused on events to mark the final 1000 days before the Olympic Games, on test competitions scheduled for next year and the volunteer movement. According to Mr Kozak, preparations for the Sochi Olympics are about 70% finished. Mr Putin pointed out the need to ensure high construction quality, emphasising that the Olympic venues will be used by people in decades after the Games.

Transcript of the beginning of the meeting: Vladimir Putin: Mr Kozak, we will soon have only 1000 days left before the Sochi 2014 Olympics. So the main question is, where do we stand? Are we on schedule? How is the construction of infrastructure and sport facilities going?  What can you tell me?

Dmitry Kozak: Let me first say a few words about this upcoming date. The 1000-day period before the Olympics will be here in less than a month. The exact time has been calculated. The capitals of host countries have begun celebrating these dates, both the 500- and the 1000-day points. We also intend to hold celebrations across Russia from Vladivostok to Moscow. These events will promote Olympic sport and healthy values, a healthy lifestyle and playing sports. The 1000-day events will be held at 26 volunteer centres in 14 regions. I would like to remind you that 25,000 volunteers are expected to take part in the Olympics. These will be young people who will be able to give an impetus to a volunteer movement in Russia thanks to the Olympic Games. This is a very important social institution.

Vladimir Putin: The volunteer corps also includes older people not just young people.

Dmitry Kozak: Well, most of the volunteer centres are based at universities. They conduct various competitions and students eagerly join in. It’s gratifying that young people are willing to participate in these events for no pay.

As for Olympic preparations, more than a half of the preparation period has indeed passed. And we have 1000 days to go, or less than three years. We are working according to the schedule and goals set at the beginning. I would like to point out that Olympic preparations are based on a set of programme-setting documents. The most important programmes are naturally the ones to build the Olympic venues, the programme to develop Sochi as a national and international sea and mountain resort and the programme to provide healthcare support for the Olympic Games. Other documents include plans to hold test competitions, to create barrier-free access for Russians and for foreign visitors to the Olympics, the integrated security plan, the integrated anti-doping plan that addresses a number of issues, including the fight against doping during the Olympics and in Russian sport as a whole.

Going back to construction, we have covered about 70% of our objectives according to my own and expert evaluations. The actual physical construction is about 40% complete, but taking into account the preparatory work, including design, selection of land plots, compulsory land purchase and usage specification, the process is 70% complete.

As of today, 131 venues and facilities have been built and commissioned. Another 182 venues and facilities are under construction. This is out of a total of 545 venues and facilities which are planned. Meanwhile, two thirds of the programme are related to the development of this Black Sea area as a national sea and mountain resort rather than only as a place for holding the Olympics.

In autumn and winter 2012, 19 international and national test championships in nine types of sports will be held here. Every facility and venue in the mountain cluster is to be commissioned by the end of this year. The mountain group will be hosting these test competitions in nine types of sports, including the alpine skiing world cup. This year the resort hosted the European cup. There are corresponding programmes to prepare each competition and the necessary bodies have been set up to coordinate the work of all the stakeholders.

I am convinced that we will accomplish everything next year. Every venue in the coastal and mountain clusters is to be completed. Each project in the coastal cluster is to be finished in the spring and summer of next year. The remaining 50 top-level international and Russian competitions in each Olympic sport will be held in 2012 and 2013. This will help us test our organisational capabilities and train the volunteers that will be working at the Olympics. They will be glad to take part in these events.

The FIS Alpine European Cup, the first test competition, was eventually held at a very high level. Regarding the International Olympic Committee, rather than our own evaluations, the IOC coordinating committee that is to provide its evaluation recently paid another visit to Sochi. As you know, they gave us a very favourable evaluation. They believe that everything is on track despite the unprecedented scale of our project, the largest in Olympic history.

Vladimir Putin: When are the student construction teams to start working this year?

Dmitry Kozak: After the spring exam session, that is, from late June or early July through the end of August.

Vladimir Putin: How many students are there in these teams?

Dmitry Kozak: We expect about 2,500 students.

Vladimir Putin: This is much more than last year.

Dmitry Kozak: There were 1,200 students last year, so this year the number is over 100% higher. We are encouraging this student movement. We will select the students through contests to make sure that only best students work in these teams. We have competition within our volunteer movement which is why the best student construction teams will receive certain preferences for their future participation in the volunteer movement.

Vladimir Putin: There were certain technical obstacles related to the construction of tunnels, to tunnelling.

Dmitry Kozak: Indeed, there used to be some. Mostly, there were some problems with geological explorations that could not 100% guarantee the results necessary for tunnelling. This is why we faced certain problems when building the third tunnel of the combined motorway and railway. Russian Railways specialists teamed up with international experts and experts from the International Olympic Committee to find technological solutions. So, today we are not having any problems.

Vladimir Putin: A foreign expert once said: “We have seen the entire might of the Russian state.” We need to make sure that this might is complemented with high quality. I am asking you to pay particular attention to this.

Dmitry Kozak: Yes, we are monitoring quality control. There are labs testing structural strength. We must do everything to the highest possible standards.

Vladimir Putin: Please make sure it’s possible to use these venues in the decades to come after the Olympic Games. I would like to emphasise the so-called Olympic heritage issue. We need to ensure that all the Olympic venues that we are heavily invested in are properly and effectively used. I would like to request that you look into this issue again and report back to me.