Private investors in the Sochi Olympic facilities knew the risks before
plowing in funds, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said Friday in an
apparent response to concerns that costs may be spiralling out of
control, RIA Novosti reports.
Metals billionaire Vladimir Potanin, head of the Interros holding
company that is building the Rosa Khutor ski resort, has said he is
counting on the government to compensate for the extra costs associated
with staging the Olympics there.
But, in what may be a rebuttal, Kozak said local authorities had
already granted significant concessions on leasing the land upon which
the resort is built.
"We will do everything the law allows to help investors," he said.
"But we understand that we have had more than one conversation with
the respective investors that this is the risk of the investors
themselves," Kozak, who is charged with overseeing Games
preparations, said.
The government even offered cheap loans and generous repayment windows
in the wake of the 2008 crisis to assist in the financing of the
projects, Kozak noted.
