Putin Visits Still-Unfinished Olympic Stadium
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-visits-still-unfinished-olympic-stadium/490620.html
President Vladimir Putin visited Sochi's
main Olympic stadium near the Black Sea coast
on Friday only to see construction workers and equipment still spread around
the venue, which is still unfinished just more than two months before it will
host the opening ceremony of the Winter Games.
Originally supposed to be done in time for ceremony
rehearsals to start in August 2013, Fisht Stadium's completion date remains
unclear. The venue, which is the biggest of six newly built Olympic facilities
in the so-called "coastal cluster," is still surrounded by cranes,
its construction having been delayed due in part to multiple changes in its
design.
The delays leave opening ceremony organizers little time to
rehearse inside the 40,000-person stadium. Preparations for the opening show
are being led by Konstantin Ernst, general director of the powerful state-owned
Channel One, who is under pressure to create a grandiose ceremony that will
showcase the achievements of the new Russia under Putin's leadership.
The exact contents of the show have been kept a closely guarded secret, but it
is expected to be watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world.
During Putin's inspection of the venue Friday, he was
accompanied by Ernst, on whom he seemed to place responsibility for its design,
calling him "in many ways the real architect of the stadium."
"Because the stadium was made in accordance with your
scenario of opening and closing ceremonies," Putin said, pointing to the
huge temporary roof that spans the two sloped sides of the venue.
"This is a unique stadium that has almost no precedent
in Europe," Ernst replied, standing in
front of the spot where Putin will deliver his opening speech.
"This is no longer a stadium but a venue that can also
be used for large-scale circus performances, such as Cirque du Soleil and
Formula One shows," Ernst added.
At a meeting chaired by Putin on Thursday with a small group
of high-ranking officials directly responsible for the Olympics, the president
referred to the fact that Fisht Stadium was not yet finished.
"We still need to talk more carefully and in more
detail about, for example, the main Olympic stadium where the opening and
closing ceremonies will take place," Putin said. "This is because the
equipment needs to be installed, and all the necessary preparatory work has to
be done."
The exact completion date for the stadium is unknown.
According to a report aired Friday on Channel One, the stadium will be finished
in December. Ilya Dzhus, a spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak,
who is in charge of Olympic preparations in the government, said by phone
Friday that the stadium would be completed "soon."
Dzhus deferred to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov for more
details. Peskov could not be reached for comment by phone on Friday.
On a recent evening visit by a Moscow Times reporter to the giant
construction site, it resembled a space launch site, with bright lights aimed
in various directions amid building equipment and incomplete structures.
The area, which is located in the Imeretinskaya
Valley, one of the few plains at the
bottom of the Caucasus Mountains, appeared to
be filled with mist, which on closer inspection was in fact a huge and
expanding cloud of dust.
Each of the six coastal Olympic venues — the Shayba Ice
Skating Arena, the Bolshoi Ice Dome, the Ice Cube Curling Center, the Adler
Arena Skating Center, the Iceberg Skating Palace, and Fisht Olympic Stadium —
came into view occasionally, distinguishable by its color scheme.
Groups of workers, most of them young men, roamed the newly
built but still unlit streets, which were freshly paved with dark asphalt. Many
of them stood on the sides of the roads smoking and drinking canned beverages.
Workers from Serbia,
Korea, CIS countries and
other nations, as well as from within Russia,
have assembled in a largely uncoordinated effort to help make Putin's Sochi vision a reality.
"It is a complete mess down here," said Ivan, a
construction worker from the Stavropol
region, who refused to give his last name due to fear of dismissal.
Ivan and several colleagues said they were sent to Sochi to help build a ski
resort developed by state-owned gas giant Gazprom. In reality they were not
doing much of any work at all, they said, while the subcontractor was still
paying for them to be in Sochi.
"It is a corruption scheme, but at least we can see the
country," Ivan said.
While some construction workers have little to do, Putin has
made clear that plenty of work remains for Olympics organizers.
"We have the festive season, New Year's Eve and
Christmas ahead of us," Putin told officials on Thursday. "I wanted
to tell you, even though it is clear anyway: For you, the New Year will be on
the last day of the Paralympic Games, March 17."
"You will meet the New Year on March 18 — you and
everyone working on Olympic sites," he said, while the officials sat
frozen in silent approval.
Contact the author at i.nechepurenko@imedia.ru
A Tale of Two Olympic Cities: Moscow 1980 and Sochi 2014
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/a-tale-of-two-olympic-cities-moscow-1980-and-sochi-2014/490515.html