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Karelia continues preparing to participate in winter Olympic Games to pass in Sochi in 2014. To provide qualitative preparation of the best Karelian sportsmen, and to involve perspective youth in the sports community of the republic it is planned to build many sports objects in Petrozavodsk, Kondopoga and Kostomuksha.

Construction of the basic sports complex for winter sports in the place of Kurgan in Petrozavodsk was discussed at the meeting where presided the Head of the Republic of Karelia Sergey Katanandov.

Works on Kurgan started in 2002. Construction of a sports complex was financed on principles of parity from federal and republican budgets. In total on reconstruction and roller-skiing routing, illumination and accomplishment, and also on engineering services and office building construction in 5 years there has been directed about 38 million roubles.

However, the original project included many minor and expensive buildings, as, for example, a hotel large tribunes for fans. Such design decisions demanded significant investments and slowed down construction of the most necessary sports objects, such as biathlon shooting-range and parts of skiing routes.

Upon discussion of a course of construction of the sports complex Sergey Katanandov criticized work of the Ministry of construction of the RK and the State Committee on Sports and Youth of the republic. Head of the region reminded heads of departments, that on Kurgan should first of all offer necessary conditions for going in for sports both for professional sportsmen, and for ordinary citizens of Petrozavodsk. In the near future this sports object should become the center of training of Karelian sportsmen for the Olympics. The more so as the republic has applicants in the Russian Olympic team in such kinds of sports as biathlon and skiing race.

In Sergey Katanandov's opinion, today on Kurgan it is not necessary to build hotels, but to finish construction of the modern illuminated skiing routes quickly and to build compact sports lodges where the future Karelian Olympians would prepare for trainings. Construction of biathlon shooting-ranges also remains on the agenda there.

The Head of Karelia encharged heads of the corresponding ministries and committees with a task to define final sequence of construction of sports objects on Kurgan and order of their commissioning within 10 days.

Ivan Stepanov, press secretary of the Head of the Republic of Karelia