On the Scene -- IOC Seeks Progress on Ambitious Sochi Olympic Project

The IOC Coordination Commission, led by Jean-Claude Killy (left), is in Sochi this week checking on preparations for the 2014 Games. (Getty Images)Despite the recession hitting Russia hard, Sochi 2014 chiefs will offer assurances to an IOC inspection team visiting the Black Sea resort this week that financing is secure and construction preparations on track.

An IOC Coordination Commission led by Jean-Claude Killy will examine every aspect of the Olympic venture in meetings and a venue tour May 13-14 before giving their verdict on Sochi's progress since their visit in April 2008.

Last year, Killy warned Russian Olympic officials they had no time to waste in building venues and infrastructure for the Winter Olympics, most of which are being built from scratch. "It is important that you continue to work hard and fast in order to ensure construction timelines are met and that no slippage occurs," Killy said at the conclusion of the IOC commission's last visit.

One year on and the IOC delegation will be looking for signs of significant progress on the construction front in the mountain and coastal clusters and road and rail links connecting the sites.

Sochi is spending some $13 billion to develop the city and Krasnodar region for the Games; a total of 247 Olympic Games-related projects are scheduled for completion in the next four-and-a-half years.

While there is visual evidence of work under way in the Krasnaya Polyana mountains, IOC officials will be keen to check that preparations are on schedule at the seaside Olympic Park where the showpiece stadium and Olympic village will be erected.

Sochi 2014 President and CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko has said all venues will be under construction by the end of 2009 and finished by 2012 to allow for two years of test events.

Killy and his team are also expecting to see major progress in other areas. Sochi has made big strides forward in its fundraising drive, having secured a handful of record multimillion dollar top tier sponsorships amid the economic downturn. Rostelecom and Megafon have become telecommunications partners; oil company Rosneft and Sberbank are the others.

But security in Sochi and the region remains an issue of concern.

Last year, four people died and nearly two dozen were injured in six explosions that went off in and around the city, triggering fears about the threat of terrorism in the build-up to the Games. Russia’s five-day war with neighboring Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia in August even led to the Georgian national Olympic committee to call for the IOC to relocate the Games because of security concerns. There are visible signs of construction in the Krasnaya Polyana mountain region. (Getty Images)

Environmental issues relating to the wave of construction projects for the Olympics will also be scrutinized. Representatives of Greenpeace Russia and the World Wildlife Federation may meet with the IOC group to discuss impact on the environment.

Over the two days, the IOC panel will be briefed by various Olympic stakeholders including Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Olympics Dmitry Kozak and Viktor Kolodyazhny, head of the state-controlled construction entity Olympstroy.

They also plan to meet with Anatoly Pakhomov, the new Sochi mayor who represents Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. He was elected in April after mounting what his opponents termed a dirty election campaign. The IOC expects him to demonstrate his commitment to delivering the Olympics.

The IOC’s wrap-up press conference takes place Thursday at 3:30 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. EDT) at the Rodina Hotel in Sochi.

With reporting from Mark Bisson.

For general comments or questions, click here