An agreement has been reached between the Russian government and key environmental groups that will mean the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will hopefully set new standards in ecological planning and development. Environmentalists have expressed concern in the past that ski resort development and building in the Sochi area has gone ahead without appropriate environmental review. Last Thursday, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Zhukov, the Minister for Economic Development, German Gref, and environmental groups, including WWF Russia, met and agreed to set up an official board of ecological experts to oversee the development of Sochi....Also, all new construction and land leases in the Sochi National Park will be evaluated for potential ecological impact.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has just arrived in Sochi, and is expected to meet with members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission for the XXII Winter Olympic Games in 2014, which arrived Monday for a five-day inspection of the candidate city.
What we’ve said before:
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/posting.php?mode=editpost&p=468576
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/posting.php?mode=editpost&p=453542
For more information:
http://www.gamesbids.com/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?category=1&id=1171561239
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070220/60989155.html