Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak accused environmentalists on Friday of taking an "unconstructive" position over preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
As the four-year countdown to the games begins, ecologists charge that picturesque areas surrounding the Black Sea resort of Sochi have been destroyed, spring water has been contaminated by heavy metal waste and the construction of the facilities is hazardously amateur.
Referring to Russian environmentalists, Kozak, who is in charge of Olympic preparations, said that "instead of trying to solve ecological problems and compensation measures, people are taking an absolutely unconstructive position."
Many of the domestic NGOs, Kozak said, are "simply targeting the derailment of the games project," adding that experts from the United Nations Environment Program had arrived at that conclusion after consultations with the groups.
Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for UNEP, refused to comment on Kozak's claim, saying the report was not yet complete.
Last month, Igor Chestin, head of the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund, said the group had ceased cooperation with Olympic organizers, complaining that their concerns were being ignored. Greenpeace Russia has also withdrawn from discussions, said Andrei Petrov, the group's World Heritage program coordinator.
Also Friday, Kozak warned state Olympic constructor Olimpstroi that it should increase the pace of building. The luge and bobsled track is now slightly behind schedule, he said, adding that it would come into operation by the end of 2012, a six-month delay.
All facilities are being built from scratch for the Sochi games, to be held in two clusters outside the city itself. Ice-rink-based events will be held at a coastal cluster, while a mountain cluster will feature skiing, snowboarding and bobsledding, among other sports.
Activists say the chief environmental threat is to the Mzymta River, which connects the two clusters. Thousands of beech trees have been felled to clear the path for a road and rail link that skirts the river.
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