Ria Novosti Roundup -- Sochi Banknotes; Russia Keeps World Cup Cities

Sochi Olympic Snowboarder Banknotes Unveiled

Special-edition banknotes for next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi were unveiled Wednesday, with 100 days to go until Russia's first Winter Games.

Twenty-million of the blue 100 ruble ($3.13) notes will be produced, with an unusual vertical design depicting a snowboarder and several of the venues in the Sochi Olympic Park.

The note's "vertical composition, which is a response to modern tendencies in banknote design, has made it possible to portray the uniqueness off the natural region, where snowy mountains meet the warm sea," the Olympic organizing committee said in a statement.

It is unclear when the notes, which differ from the regular red 100-ruble notes, will enter general circulation.

Organizers also displayed the design of a 25-ruble commemorative coin for the Olympic torch relay, which depicts the route of the relay around Russia, with the torch superimposed. The 25-ruble denomination is not currently used.

Both the banknotes and coin will be legal tender. There will also be special 50-ruble stamps dedicated to the torch relay.

Back in March, Russian state-owned bank Sberbank started sales of a rectangular coin featuring a polar bear, one of three Sochi OIympic mascots. It has not gone into general distribution.

Russia 2018 Head Rules Out Changing Host Cities

There is no chance of changing the host cities for the Russia 2018 World Cup despite construction delays in one of them, organizing committee head Alexei Sorokin said Tuesday.

The head of the company building the World Cup stadium for Yekaterinburg has said that city could be struck off the list of hosts if authorities cannot resolve delays caused by the arena being listed as a historical monument.

Reports have claimed that Krasnodar, which did not make the final list of 11 host cities, would then take over Yekaterinburg’s place.

"Not by breaking, not by sneaking onto the list of cities to host the World Cup, Krasnodar won’t be able to do it anyhow," Sorokin said.

"The selection of cities has been already been made, the tournament concept has been approved. We can’t change it during the preparations."

Yeakterinburg’s inclusion is symbolic because of its location on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains, the traditional dividing line between Europe and Asia. The stadium problems there will be resolved, insisted Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, whose organization controls a large part of government World Cup funding.

"I am convinced that Yekaterinburg should host the World Cup, even though the stadium there isn’t ready yet," he said. "It’s a great city, the gateway to Asia. We’ll move it forward."

Sorokin and Mutko were speaking at a reception for FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke in the 2018 host city of Kazan.

100 days to Sochi 2014: RIA Novosti brings the Olympics to Russians

RIA Novosti Group continues to explore innovative approaches to delivering and presenting content in order to ensure the best possible coverage of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

In September 2011, RIA Novosti Group was selected by the International Olympic Committee as the host nation news agency and photobank of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. In March 2013, RIA Novosti was named the host nation news agency of the Sochi Paralympics. RIA Novosti seeks to use innovative approaches to creating and delivering content. For instance, the agency’s photographers are already using photo robots to capture unique images; the agency’s partners will receive the latest updates through Blitz, which transfers photos from the shooting location to the subscriber in less than 90 seconds; and social media subscribers will receive near real-time access to photos from sports venues.

Published by exclusive arrangement with Around the Rings’ Sochi 2014 media partner RIA-Novosti.

For general comments or questions,click here.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics isAroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.