The Sochi 2014 Olympics: An Environmental Disaster? | Russia | OutsideOnline.com
Geege Schuman stashed this in Olympics
Source: http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-t...
Determined that Russia will put on the most lavish Winter Games in history, Vladimir Putin has spent $51 billion, quashed environmental critics, and turned one of Europe’s most beautiful natural regions into a construction zone.
Stashed in: Olympics!, Russia and Friends, Russia, Environmental Impacts
$51 BILLION
That seems like a lot of money.
Lets put it in perspective: As of October 2013, the estimated total cost of the 2014 Winter Olympics was more than $51 billion USD; five times more than its initial budget of only $12 billion USD (which was only slightly more than the $8.2 billion spent for Vancouver), exceeding the estimated $44 billion USD cost of the 2008 Summer Olympics as the most expensive Olympic Games in history. The increase in budget has been attributed to work quality and conditions, along with claims by Leonid Martynyuk and Boris Nemtsov that $30 billion of the budget had been wasted on embezzlement and kickbacks by Putin.[7] [8] [9]
Wow.
What $51 billion buys:
http://pandawhale.com/post/35540/russia-beefs-up-olympics-security-with-legendary-fighters
10:08 AM Dec 15 2013