Belgrade hosted the presentation competition of the countries bidding to organize the European Youth Sports Festival, the so-called Youth Olympics, in 2015. The festival is a cultural event as well as an
athletic one.
Tbilisi’s principle rival was the Czech city of Brno, but the Georgian capital won the majority of the votes. Apart from the benefits to the tourism sector, the Georgian authorities aspire to gain some political advantages, as the country would become a part of the European community. President Saakashvili has already signed an order on support for the ‘Tbilisi – 2015’ project. Construction of dozens of sport facilities is planned. Georgian officials also promise to grant free accommodation to all festival participants, allocating 70 euros per day for each athlete from the state budget (a considerable sum, even from a European point of view).
Also, Georgia promises to train several thousands of volunteers, ready to offer any kind of assistance to the athletes, and some 500 translators to eliminate any language barriers. The organizating committee is headed by the capital’s mayor, Gigi Ugulava. During thepresentation he focused the judges’ attention to the scale of infrastructure construction already undertaken in Tbilisi. He suggested that the young guests of the festival will have a great opportunity to familiarize themselves with Georgian and Caucasian traditions, culture, national food and history.
Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi, exclusively to VK
