Olympic facilities in Sochi to be commissioned in time - Mutko

SOCHI, August 27 (Itar-Tass) -- All Olympic facilities in Sochi will
be finalized on time and the first test competitions will begin in
February 2012, Minister of Sports, Tourisms and Youth Policy Vitaly Mutko
announced on Friday. On Thursday, the Olympic facilities were inspected by
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Mutko said that during the detour the head of state and sports
officials visited two sites - a ski jump complex, and the site of
biathlon, cross country skiing and Paralympic races.
"There is still much to be done, but all Olympic venues will be ready
in time," said Mutko.
Among the problems he identified communication and transportation
issues and delivery of processing equipment and materials.
"But with the introduction of a second lane of the railway and port
the logistics will get better and many problems will be removed," he said.
"Some problems are exposed in the course of construction. In particular,
the construction of the ski jump complex has found that soil is very
different from what had been expected."
"After this detour we did not cancel a single test event, they will
begin from February next year and by the end of March we will have to hold
all of the nineteen test events," he said. "In the summer there will begin
international competitions, and in July there is to be a FISU cup ski
jumping competition," the minister added.