from RIA NOVOSTI,

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that building the sports facilities for next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi, plus the hosting expenses, will cost around $6.4 billion, but he declined to give a figure for the vast spending on infrastructure.

Russia has been forced to spend big to develop Sochi and the surrounding area, located on the Black Sea about 1,350 kilometers south of Moscow and with no tradition of elite-level winter sports.

“Our country may have invested more in the preparation in general, but we didn’t spend more than any other country on the Olympic facilities,” Putin told Russian Channel One TV. “In total, spending for the preparation of the Olympic Games will reach 214 billion rubles [$6.4 billion].”

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