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Business Insider: Why Sochi Is By Far The Most Expensive Olympics Ever
1.Sochi perhaps isn't the most logical place for a Winter Olympic Games. It's one of Russia's best-known beach resorts, known for its sub-tropical climate in Summer. While it does get cold in winter, there have been some concerns it might not be cold enough, and there have been some drastic measures taken to ensure that there is enough snow on the ground for the events.
2.Partly because of this, it required a large amount of construction. Case in point, the 31-mile road between Sochi and Polyana, a mountain resort hosting the ski and snowboard events for the games, had to be built because Sochi had no areas suitable for snow-based events.
3.It's in Russia's troubled south, hence it has big security concerns. Russia is probably spending a huge amount of money on making sure terrorists' plans for Sochi fail. This is probably money well spent — terrorists appear to be targeting nearby areas because they can't reach Sochi itself, hence the Volgograd bombings — but still, it's a lot of money, and not an expense Vancouver or Nagano really had to worry about.
4.Corruption. In last year's Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, Russia came in at No. 127 out of 175 countries, with a score of 28 out of a possible 100 (100 would mean that people perceive it as not being corrupt at all, so 28 is pretty bad). Whether, as opposition figures have claimed, it is a "monstrous scam" with up to $30 billion in funds stolen, or not, corruption has probably accounted for some of the budget inflation.
2.Partly because of this, it required a large amount of construction. Case in point, the 31-mile road between Sochi and Polyana, a mountain resort hosting the ski and snowboard events for the games, had to be built because Sochi had no areas suitable for snow-based events.
3.It's in Russia's troubled south, hence it has big security concerns. Russia is probably spending a huge amount of money on making sure terrorists' plans for Sochi fail. This is probably money well spent — terrorists appear to be targeting nearby areas because they can't reach Sochi itself, hence the Volgograd bombings — but still, it's a lot of money, and not an expense Vancouver or Nagano really had to worry about.
4.Corruption. In last year's Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, Russia came in at No. 127 out of 175 countries, with a score of 28 out of a possible 100 (100 would mean that people perceive it as not being corrupt at all, so 28 is pretty bad). Whether, as opposition figures have claimed, it is a "monstrous scam" with up to $30 billion in funds stolen, or not, corruption has probably accounted for some of the budget inflation.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-sochi-is-by-far-the-most-expensive-olympics-ever-2014-1#ixzz2rAHmmnEY
