MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi, a resort on the Black Sea bidding to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, was legal.
The Cassation Board of the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the environmental group Greenpeace, requesting the cancellation of a previous court ruling in favor of the construction passed on March 21. Greenpeace is seeking the cancellation of a federal targeted program for Sochi's development in 2006-2014.
Environmentalists claim that the construction of sports and tourist facilities fails to observe environmental legislation, but that holding the Olympics in Sochi is possible if the project causes no significant damage to the environment. They first voiced their concerns during the visit to Sochi by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission February 19-23.
Sochi has been short-listed as a host city for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, along with Austria's Salzburg and South Korea's PyeongChang. The city previously bid for the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics, but was rejected largely due to its poor-quality Soviet-era infrastructure. The winner of the bid will be announced in July 2007 in Guatemala City.
Chiharu Igaya, who heads the IOC Evaluation Commission, acknowledged earlier that the Olympic building plans raise a number of environmental issues, but said he hoped the Russian government and environmental organizations would reach a compromise.
The World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Russia director, Igor Chestin, said in mid-February that there would be no problems with ecology during preparations for the Olympic Games thanks to the close cooperation between environmentalists and the authorities.
Under the federal targeted program, which has a $12 billion budget, 580 kilometers (360 miles) of roads will be reconstructed and built near Sochi for the Olympics.
