Everyone is anticipating the grand opening of the major sports event of the year. The Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 aroused lots of questions, doubts, and rumors. However, even the most severe critics cannot deny that the resort town has changed to its advantage. According to different estimates, the management and building of sports facilities and the infrastructure that matches the local landscape nicely cost dozens billion dollars. To count someone’s money does not make sense. It would be better to refer to the official data. Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told journalists how much has been actually spent. Citing the Prime Minister, the Olympic construction project cost the country $50 billion. However, he specified on the spot that $6.4 billion of this amount went exactly to the games arrangement. The policymaker highlighted that the main funds were allocated for the development of the resort town. “I would like to split expenses on the preparations for the games including sports facilities and a variety of appropriate objects for the Olympics on the one hand, and Sochi reconstruction on the other hand. We must not mix up these figures because the Olympic competitions will be over, but Sochi will get a new life environment,” Dmitry Medvedev said. Apart from this issue, journalists wondered about cases of corruption and embezzlement of the funds earmarked for the event. Such huge projects are always entangled with rumors about massive scale frauds. The Prime Minister replied, “Currently, we do not have such figures. There are no available data about extraordinary figures of corruption concerning the whole country. It is hardly possible.” Likewise, a few days ago President Vladimir Putin pinpointed this issue at the press conference and told about the anti-corruption activities of the law enforcement authorities. In particular, he mentioned a criminal suit against high ranking officials who sold land allotted for Olympic objects. The head of state brought into focus, “The case has been investigated, these people have been found guilty; currently, they are serving their sentence. In the meantime, we do not see any large scale corruption revealed in the course of Olympic project implementation.”
