Chairman of the bidding committee, Moscow's Vice Mayor Valery Shantsev disclosed this to RIA Novosti speaking about the participation of the Moscow delegation in the 33rd General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees in Croatia. According to him, today the Olympic Games are not only a matter of prestige. They are commercially beneficial to the venue. For instance, the objects which were built for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow are currently used by Muscovites and bring money to the city's treasury. "Undoubtedly, the Olympic Games will be beneficial, useful and important for the city," Mr. Shantsev noted.
In his opinion, "Moscow's concept presented by the bidding committee in Dubrovnik is most convenient for athletes, spectators and journalists". Among other candidates, Moscow is the only city with all sporting objects needed for the competitions situated within the city. Moreover, about 65% of the buildings already can receive athletes. The remaining objects, including two and three-star hotels, will be completed by 2012, Valery Shantsev assured.
According to him, the presentation of the candidates to host the 2012 Olympics did not take much time. Each candidate was given ten minutes to present its concept. "Unlike Moscow, our colleagues from Madrid, London and New York exceeded the allotted time. This presentation was a remarkable possibility to share our vision of the 2012 Olympic Games with the European Olympic Committees. Currently we see the key stage of the international campaign. We focus on the task, which we have to accomplish. Moscow will be the historical choice and will have great influence on the world and theOlympic movement. Our unique plan, the Olympic River, is compact and worked out for the comfort of athletes, the Olympic family, spectators and journalists," Valery Shantsev said.
Speaking about the favorites of the 2012 Olympic race, the Vice Mayor said that all cities had equal chances at the moment. Nobody knows how members of the International Olympic Committee will vote on July 6, 2005. The start has been made, now we have to properly distribute forces and come to a worthy finish," he stressed.
When the evaluation commission of the International Olympic Committee arrives in Moscow in mid-March 2005, the federal authorities should show their wide support for our bid, Mr. Shantsev emphasized. "In this aspect we yield to our rivals. Their top officials express their active support both in word and deed. For instance, the mayor of New York said that a relevant agreement was signed with trade-unions, which promised not to go on strikes during the construction of Olympic objects," the vice mayor said.
President of the Russian Olympic Committee who headed the Russian delegation in Dubrovnik Leonid Tyagachev said that Russia's rating had grown a lot as compared to May 2004 when Moscow became one of the five finalists. "Now we should work out a proper program of the evaluation commission's visit to Moscow and take every effort to make them have no doubts that Moscow is able to hold the Games at the highest level," Mr. Tyagachev stressed.
