POSTED: November 9th 2010
InDepth
Sochi boss insists on personal interest in being bright green for 2014 Winter Olympics
KEIR RADNEDGE / Sports Features Communications
LONDON/SOCHI: Dmitry Chernyshenko insists that, as a son of the elasticated city of Sochi, he has more reason to be concerned about the environmental rebalancing demanded by the 2014 Winter Olympics hosting.
In the second part of his interview with SportsFeatures.com he went into detail about the environmental, financial and security auditing keeping the project on track – and up to the standards demanded by the International Olympic Committee.
How is progress being monitored?
Sochi is not like other cities. It’s like Los Angeles, it’s the second longest in the world, its 147 kilometres long. This has its own particular challenges so we are the permanent control of both our own government and the IOC co-ordination commission led by Jean-Claude Killy. Also we have permanent monitoring by construction experts on behalf of the IOC. We had the ninth visit recently from these experts who have made sure we have a proper system system to control the key milestones and that we are delivering on time.
What about the environmental impact?
Coming from Sochi myself I have pursued this aspect very seriously. Right back from the beginning of our bid we were committed not only to the protection but the enhancement of the environmental situation in the region.
Of course, it’s useless to expect that what may be the biggest construction site in Europe would not impact on nature: the question was how to protect and compensate. I can tell you that in that regard our authorities are doing their utmost.
Without proper project preparation we would never have the new green standard in construction which we have to meet. In fact, not only has this become compulsory for every construction site in Russia but our environmental mitigation standard is much higher than in some other countries.
It’s important to separate speculation from facts. People who want to know the details should study the reports prepared by the United Nations envriomental programme representatives who visit Sochi regularly. They give us advice - we follow that and deliver.
Are there specific examples where you changed direction because of environmental concerns?
There are many examples of not only changes but dramatic changes. Just one was the fact that we moved several venues to lessen the environmental impact in sensitive areas - and you can imagine what that cost. The truth is that the land we needed for venues and infrastructure is being compensated several times over and beyond the amount taken up.
How are you meeting security concerns – or it that a secret?
ANSWER . . . IN PART TWO OF THIS INTERVIEW – COMING SHORTLY
Keywords · Sochi · 2014 Winter Olympics · Chernyshenko · environment
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