After Sochi 2014: costs and impacts of Russia’s Olympic Games

Figures & data

Table 1. Breakdown of total budget by type of cost (operational, sports-related capital, sports-related supporting infrastructure, and non-sports-related capital).

Costs	Planned [2007]	Actual [2014]	Cost overrun (nominal, percent)	Funding source	After use
	$million
TOTAL	12,287	54,914	347	–	–
Operational costs	1648	4249	158	–	–
Organizing Committee	1391	2327	67	ca. 75 percent private	–
Security	257	1922^*	647	Public	–
Capital costs	10,638	50,665	376	Mostly public	–
Sports-related capital costs	n/a	11,894	n/a
Direct sports-related capital costs	1052	7532	585	Mostly public	–
Coastal cluster
Olympic stadium	51	631	1131	Public	Concerts, World Cup 2018
Large hockey stadium	164	336	105	Public	Multi-purpose stadium
Small hockey stadium	24	116	382	Private	National sports center for children
Curling arena	11	24	113	State-secured loan	Multi-purpose stadium
Speed skating oval	28	246	790	State company	Tennis academy
Figure skating stadium	38	270	610	Public	Velodrome?
Main Olympic Village	66	772	1061	State-secured loan	Apartments
Main Media Center	246	1274	417	Public	Exhibition center
Olympic Park		328	n/a	Public	Recreation, Formula 1
Mountain cluster
Biathlon and cross-country complex	12	2478	20,759	State company	Training center
Bobsleigh track	120	249	107	Public	Training center
Ski jumps	29	298	922	State-secured loan	Training center
Snowboard and freestyle park	21	113	430	State-secured loan	Training center
Alpine skiing	240	396	65	State-secured loan	Ski resort (Roza Khutor)
Main mountain village	44	599	1251	State-secured loan	Hotel, apartments
Sports-related supporting infrastructure	n/a	4362	n/a	Mostly public	–
Non-sports-related capital costs	n/a	38,771	n/a	Mostly public	–
Combined rail–road link	n/a	10,546	n/a	Public	Severely reduced rail service
Other projects	n/a	28,225	n/a	Mostly public	–

Notes: All costs in nominal USD at average exchange rate of US$1 = RUB 30.08.

Sources: own calculations based on Bidding Committee Sochi (2006); Olimpstroy (2014); Rozhkov (2014); Tovkaylo (2014); Zhemukhov and Orttung (2014).

* Security costs are a minimum estimate from 2011; no current data have been published.

Figure 1. Map of post-Olympic Sochi with key infrastructure and coastal and mountain clusters.

Table 2. Comparison of cost and cost overruns of Winter Games in Sochi 2014 with previous Olympic Games (operational costs plus sports-related capital costs).

Games	Country	Type	Final sports-related costs [bn $2009]	Cost per event [mln $2009]	Cost overrun (real terms, original currencies) [percent]	Cost overrun (nominal)
Sochi 2014	Russia	Winter	11.8	120	171^**	324^**
London 2012*	UK	Summer	14.8	49	101	133
Vancouver 2010	Canada	Winter	2.3	27	17	36
Beijing 2008	China	Summer	5.5	18	4	35
Torino 2006	Italy	Winter	4.1	49	82	113
Athens 2004	Greece	Summer	3.0	10	60	97
Salt Lake City 2002	USA	Winter	2.3	29	29	40
Sydney 2000	Australia	Summer	4.2	14	90	108
Nagano 1998	Japan	Winter	2.3	34	56	58
Atlanta 1996	USA	Summer	3.8	14	147	178
Lillehammer 1994	Norway	Winter	1.9	31	277	347
Barcelona 1992	Spain	Summer	11.4	44	417	609
Albertville 1992	France	Winter	1.9	33	135	169
Calgary 1988	Canada	Winter	1.0	22	59	131
Sarajevo 1984	Yugoslavia	Winter	0.01	0.3	173	1257
Lake Placid 1980	USA	Winter	0.4	11	321	502
Montréal 1976	Canada	Summer	6.0	30	796	1266
Grenoble 1968	France	Winter	1.0	29	201	230
Mean			4.3	31	174	313
Median			2.7	29	118	151
Maximum			14.8	120	796	1266
Minimum			0.01	0.3	4	35

Sources: Flyvbjerg and Stewart (2012); own calculations.

^* Estimates.

^** Cost overruns do not include cost for supporting infrastructure (for which no original budget was available).

Table 3. Sources of funding for capital costs of Sochi 2014 Olympic Games.

Source	$million	Share
Government	29,222	57.7percent
Federal state	23,604
Krasnodar province	2327
City of Sochi	3291
State-owned companies	11,403	22.5 percent
Gazprom	4920
Russian Railways	2626
Others	3856
State-secured loans	8278	16.3 percent
Private	1762	3.5 percent
TOTAL	50,665	100 percent

Sources: Fund for the Fight Against Corruption (2014).

Table 4. Overview of the four ski resorts in Krasnaya Polyana.

	Roza Khutor	Gornaya Karusel’	Laura	Alpika service
Owner	Interros (Vladimir Potanin)	Sberbank	Gazprom	Gazprom
Length of runs (km)	77	25	20	30
Highest elevation	Roza Pik (2320 m)	Black Pyramid (2300 m)	1800 m	Aibga (2238 m)
Cable cars	18	12	14	7
Olympic facilities	Alpine skiing, snowboarding, freestyle	Ski jump	Biathlon, cross-country skiing	Bobsleigh
Rooms	1636 hotel rooms	1625 hotel rooms	1413 hotel rooms	n/a
		1335 apartments

Sources: Alpika Service (2015), Gazprom (2015), Gornaya Karusel’ (2015), Roza Khutor (2015), Sochi Legacy Report (2014).

Table 5. Estimation of future costs of Sochi Olympic venues and tourist infrastructure.

	Cost per year [$million]
Venue operation and maintenance	399
Formula 1 operation	55
Tax break for owners of Olympic infrastructure	133
Moratorium on interest on mortgages	632
Total	1219

Sources: Kulchitskaya (2014), Sylt and Reid (2013), Tovkaylo (2013), Volkov (2014).

Figure 2. Favorable attitudes toward Russia in selected countries, 2007–2014.

Source: Pew Research Center (2014).

Figure 3. Domestic approval (national and local) of hosting the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia.

Sources: Fond Obshchestvennoe Mnenie (2013), Müller (2012), Bidding Committee Sochi (2006), Vetitnev and Bobina (2014).

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