Gazprom to spend $2bln on Sochi Olympics - paper

MOSCOW. April 6. KAZINFORM Russian energy giant Gazprom will invest at least 68 billion rubles ($2 billion) in the construction of facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi by 2012, a business paper said on Monday; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

According to Vedomosti, of this sum, 28 billion rubles ($838 million) will be invested by Gazprom in 2009. Gazprom's spending on preparations for the Sochi Olympics is the largest of all the investment plans for the 2014 Winter Games, excluding federal budget expenditures. Total investment in the Sochi Olympics is estimated at 206-218 billion rubles ($6.2-6.5 billion), the paper said, referring to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak. Gazprom's investment targets include a skiing complex, a four-star 600-seat hotel for skiers 1,500 meters above sea level and a new gas pipeline with an annual capacity of 3.27 billion cubic meters, Vedomosti said; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. Full version you can see at www.en.rian.ru