( RT ) - The 2014 Olympics in Sochi are the focus of Day Two at the International Investment Forum taking place in the city and to date about 170 deals worth nearly $US 24.5 BLN have been struck there. 8,800 participants have attended the forum and today's media briefing is still going on.
The day began at around 1050 am local time with a plenary session entitled "2014 Winter Olympic Games", which was mainly devoted to new investment projects in Sochi.
Aleksandr Zhukov, acting Deputy Prime Minister, has said the forum is a success due to several reasons, among which improved investment climate characterised by the increased amount of the foreign direct investment. He added the projects have been presented with the help of the highest-quality techniques and investors could really see where their money was going.
"Today we are introducing one of the most attractive and complex investment projects in Russia - the construction of Olympic venues. The project includes infrastructure linked to roads, energy supplies, hotels and railways. And of course 15 modern sport venues which will probably be among the best sports venues in the world. We are seeing huge interest from Russian and foreign investors. More than half of the preparations will be carried out using private investments. I think the Sochi projects will attract investors mainly because of their potential profitability. Everyone understands that the Olympic Games are a global event that attracts the attention of the whole world. That's why investment into Sochi's infrastructure is at centre stage today," he stated.
The CEO of the Sochi 2014 bid committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, stressed that foreign investors are starting to show their interest in projects, that don't guarantee fast profits, which is a good trend. "We are witnessing a positive tendency - private investments replacing federal ones. More than three billion roubles from the federal budget have already been saved because private investors have shown interest in projects, which don't just guarantee fast profits, like hotels, but also in sport venues and infrastructure," he said.
"If we are speaking about the most significant projects to be launched in the nearest future, that is, of course, a high speed railway system between Moscow and Sochi. We are now preparing proper documentation to launch the project," noted Vladimir Yakunin, President of JSC Russian Railways.
German Gref, Russian acting Minister of Economic Development and Trade, said that the main thing that was achieved at the forum is not the amount of money generated, but that foreign investors have now trust in Russia.