Business Watch
SOCHI, Russia (AP) -- The mountains of Sochi are now home to Potanin's slope, Gazprom's gondola lift and Sberbank's ski jump. The nicknames used by locals and an army of construction workers leave no doubt about who is paying for the 2014 Winter Games: Russia's business powerhouses.
From 3 to 7 April, the Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad will present the XVI Patriotic Song Festival hosted in the city of Sochi. During the Festival, spectators will be able to enjoy traditional army and Cossack songs performed by members of the Russian military and CIS countries. The festival will conclude with a public gala concert at Arts Square in the center of Sochi with performances from the winners of the contest.
As part of International Children's Book Day on April 2, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee has unveiled a new information resource the Sochi 2014 Alphabet and organized a meeting for schoolchildren in Sochi with famous athletes, who told the children about their favorite books.
From March 18 to 24, the Adler Arena Speed skating Center in Sochi will host the Essent ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships. The event will be staged by the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee in cooperation with the Russian Skating Union (RSU) and the International Skating Union (ISU). This is the first time Russia has received the honor of staging this event since the establishment of the World Single Distances Championships in 1996, and these World Championship will be the first international Test Event for speed skating Olympic venue. The World Championships program is identical to the competition program for skaters at the Olympic Winter Games. Held over four days, 134 athletes fr om 23 countries will compete for 12 sets of medals.
An exhibit with the Sochi 2014 Olympic mascots - Polar Bear, Hare and Leopard, has been installed in Manezhnaya Square in Moscow. The mascots arrived in Moscow fr om London, where they had graced the center of the British capital in Hyde Park on Marble Arch throughout the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. The Sochi 2014 mascots will remain in Moscow until next January, and then in February 2014 they will move to the Olympic Park in Sochi.
WASHINGTON, March 18 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) A group of former top athletes from Russia and other ex-Soviet republics who reside today in the United States have launched a campaign they say they hope will draw Americans’ attention to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia and help warm US-Russian relations in the process.