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GENEVA -- The organizer of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi said Wednesday that preparations were ahead of schedule and financing was secure.
The resort and routes to the nearby mountains are "a huge construction site," organizing committee head Dmitry Chernyshenko said.
He said the financial downturn would not affect the $12.6 billion project, which will see 13 venues built from scratch and a transport link tunneled through a mountain.
He told reporters ahead of a May 13-14 visit to Sochi by the International Olympic Committee's coordination commission that it was "not rocket science" to build venues on flat land in the Olympic Park but that good management was critical.
The budget is split into $5.8 billion of infrastructure funding, $5 billion of private investment -- backed with state guarantees -- for venues and hotels and $1.8 billion to run the games.
Olympic Projects Ahead of Schedule
07 May 2009
The Associated Press
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