Russia’s Olympic ‘overspend’ revealed

Russia has spent about 51 billion US dollars (£30bn) to deliver the Olympics in Sochi, which run from February 7 to 23, making them the most expensive Olympics ever, even though winter games have many fewer athletes than summer games.

Mr Navalny claims Russia spent twice as much as necessary to build at least 10 of the Olympic venues – including the Bolshoy Ice Dome, the Fisht Stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies and the speed-skating arena.

Allegations of corruption have dogged preparations for the Sochi Games for years, and Mr Navalny’s website – Sochi.FBK.info – combines data gathered during his own investigations with media reports and other activists’ analysis.

Using colourful graphics, the website makes a wide range of data accessible in English and Russian. “Athletes are not the only people who compete in Sochi,” said Mr Navalny, who finished a strong second in Moscow’s mayoral election last year. “Officials and businessmen also took part in the games and turned them into a source of income.”

President Vladimir Putin has rejected claims about rampant corruption in Sochi, saying the inflated prices were due to the honest mistakes of investors who underestimated the costs.

“If anybody has got this information, please show this to us,” Mr Putin said in a recent television interview. “But so far we haven’t seen anything except speculation.”

A 2012 report by the government’s Audit Chamber found about 15 billion rubles (about £300m) in “unreasonable” cost overruns in the preparations for the Sochi Olympics.

Auditors found the work of some staff members at Olympstroi, the state company in charge of Sochi construction, between 2008 and 2010 was “conducive to incurring unreasonable cost overruns”.