Public Council for preparations for 2014 Olympics to meet in Sochi

SOCHI, March 24 (Itar-Tass) - A Public Council for preparations for
the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will meet in Sochi on
Thursday to discuss prospects of development of volunteers' movement in
Russia in the course of preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Dmitry Chernyshenko, the president of the Sochi-2014 organizing
committee, and Anatoly Pakhomov, the mayor of Sochi, will report on
progress achieved in the training of volunteers.
The Public Council was set up in the summer of 2009. It meets on a
monthly basis. The main topics for discussion include the construction of
Olympic facilities, ecology, security, the development of
telecommunication systems, employment at Olympic construction sites, etc.
The Council's objective is to observe the rights and lawful interests
of citizens residing in Sochi, increase public control over the actions of
state bodies of power and organizations as well as support for proposals
of public organizations of the city of Sochi.
The Council is an advisory body. Its chairman is Vitaly Ignatenko, the
general director of the Itar-Tass news agency.
In the meantime, Sochi will host another vital events on Thursday.
Sport ministers and the heads of the national Olympic Committees of
more than 20 countries will meet to discuss prospects of cooperation. The
conference has been organized by the Russian Olympic Committee and the
Russian International Olympic University.
A seminar titled "Sport and Business: Problems and Prospects of
Effective Interaction" will take place on the sidelines of the conference.
The Russian Olympic Committee and the national Olympic Committees of
the CIS countries, the Baltic States and Eastern Europe will sign
memorandums of cooperation.
Russian Vice-Premier Alexander Zhukov, who's the president of the
Russian Olympic Committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, president of the
Sochi-2014 organizing committee, and Lev Belousov, the general director of
the Russian International Olympic University will participate in the
seminar, a University source told Itar-Tass.
Other speakers will include Rene Fazel, the president of the
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Anthony Scanlon, the executive
director of the International Golf Federation, John Tibbs, the head of the
Jon Tibbs Associated, and Mikhail Kusnirovich, the head of the Bosco di
Ciliegi Company.
The seminar will dwell on urgent issues of international Olympic
cooperation, prospects of interaction of businesses with international and
national sport federations as well as the training of national teams in
the Olympic games.