According to the description, the forum will become a
wide-ranging PR campaign, the main task of which is to approve that
there are no more ecological problems in Sochi alongside with
Sochi's claim of becoming the site of the Olympic Games. But in
spite of the top-ranking ministerial and government officials'
announcements, at present day there are no any actual changes in
the construction projects of the Olympic buildings, and it doesn't
look like it will be made. The only thing that was made was alter
the new edit of the Federal Special-purpose Program "Development of
Sochi as the mountain climatic health resort" in April - 400
million rubles was allocated to the promotion and the advertisement
of the Sochi campaign, seems like the managers of the forum are
performing it now.
During the rush period of International Olympic Committee
valuation committee the Russian officials were performing numerous
assurance concerning the indispensable solution of all the
ecological points at issue of the Sochi claim, but for the moment
looks so as if they have just forgotten about it. So, on April 13th
during the session of the Coordinating Ecological Council
concerning the realization of Federal Social-purpose Program, the
decision was accepted. It said that the planning of the allocation
of the buildings of the FSP in the buffer zone of the territory of
the International natural inheritance along the border of the
Caucasian reserve is possible only after the agreement of terms and
conditions with the International Inheritance Committee.
But according to the information available to Greenpeace already
on April, 17th, during the conference in Russia's Ministry of
Economic Development and Trade the decision concerning the holding
of the projection and construction of the mountain Olympic Village
architectural competition was taken. The construction of it is
planned exactly at the border of the reserve.
Especially hot dispute was caused by the project of the
construction of the sleighing-bobsleigh route. At this very point
the Russian officials and those who are connected with them indeed
perform the fraud de facto. It is officially known, that according
to the International Olympic Committee criteria the route can be
built only in one place of the park - exactly at the Caucasian
reserve border. But after examining the official criteria of the
choice of sleighing-bobsleigh route construction the independent
experts of Greenpeace in Russia and Observation Unit "Transparent
World" managed to find at about 10 appropriate places out of the
territory of the most precious park zones.
At the moment Greenpeace Russia has sent the official claims to
the International Luge Federation and the International Federation
of Bobsled and Skeleton with the request of the confirmation
concerning the question if the alternative variants of the route
construction were provided.
It should be mentioned that looks like the irrationality of the
forum holding is known to the majority of the international experts
that were planned to be invited. According to the information that
Greenpeace possesses, some of the experts that were invited,
including United Nations Environment Program and the world
resources institute, refused to take part in this event. Probably
that happened due to the wish not to get mixed up in theses
machinations. In this respect one can feel pity for the
representatives of community and science that have indeed done a
lot for the saving of the Caucasus nature. One can feel pity cause
they can allow to be tangled in the venture and that they can allow
providing of their names for ecological coverage of the projects
that are destructive for nature.
The managers of the forum should understand that these deeds
indeed only lower the chances of Sochi in holding the Olympiad.
Most probably the main aim of those people who are so strongly
opposing the saving of the most valuable nature items indeed is not
the holding of the Olympiad but the separation of the considerable
amount of the budget money and the taking of the most valuable
territory of the park and reserve for construction of the elite
golf clubs and beauty spa. "There is less time left before the
decision of the International Olympic Committee will be made, but
Russia still has the possibility to increase the chances of the
Sochi claim, by proving that the Olympiad in Sochi can indeed
become "green" "- the Director of the programs of Greenpeace in
Russia Ivan Blokov informs. - Making some insignificant for the
Olympic Application Book changes in Federal Special-purpose Program
and the construction plans of the sports buildings and the
infrastructure would let prevent considerable harm to the nature
complexes of the national reserve and will considerably increase
the chances of Russia in holding the Olympiad 2014.
For additional information please contact Greenpeace Russia by
phone: (495) 626-50-45 the manager of the project of Specially
Protected Natural Areas Mikhail Kreindlin and the press secretary
Eugeniya Belyakova.