Before the meeting, the President visited the Sopka multipurpose sports centre, where he toured its games hall and acrobatics hall and the Restorative Medicine and Rehabilitation Centre.
The Sopka complex comprises two blocks, one housing the Restorative Medicine and Rehabilitation Centre for athletes and the other – acrobatics and fitness halls, two conference halls, as well as offices, amenities and hygiene facilities.
The 29th Winter Universiade 2019 will be held in Krasnoyarsk in early March 2019. Young athletes will compete for 76 sets of medals in 11 sports, including eight compulsory sports – alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice hockey, short track, snowboarding, figure skating and curling – and three optional sports – freestyle skiing, orienteering and bandy.
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Transcript of meeting on preparations for the 2019 Universiade
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,
The 29th Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk is just over one year away. Today we will discuss the preparation of our student national team, as well as the construction and renovation of Universiade venues.
We have seen some of them, and I am glad that a lot has already been done. But I would like to talk today about what has not been done and why, and what must and can be done in the nearest future.
We all know our common goal: to stage a fantastic and unforgettable celebration of student sports. We have had success before, regardless of the current situation around the Russian sports at the current Olympic cycle.
There is no doubt that our country remains the leader in global sports and the leader in hosting major sports events. In addition to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which we will be hosting soon, Sochi will host the 2019 Men's World Boxing Championship, Syktyvkar will be the venue for the 2021 Bandy World Championship, and Kazan – for the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m).
All these large-scale events must meet the high bar set at the Kazan Universiade and the Sochi Olympics. And, of course, they are aimed at leaving a great legacy: I mean infrastructure and the development of sport and strengthening of its humane values.
I just talked with Mr Uss [Acting Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory] about this aspect of the project, about the city, which should also be in the focus during the preparations for the Universiade.
The holding of the Universiade is not only related to the development of winter sports. The main goal is to unite young athletes from different countries under the flag of mutual respect, friendship and fair competition and, of course, to create an opportunity for our guests to gain an insight into the unique cultural and natural wealth of Siberia.
I would like to note that the sphere of student sports has taken a special, prominent place in Russia’s public life. Active lifestyle and the volunteer movement are gaining popularity among young people, and our athletes show good results in world tournaments.
Last year, our students delivered a strong performance at the Universiade in Kazakhstan and won a total of 71 medals, including 29 gold medals. Some of the winners are from Krasnoyarsk. This has once again demonstrated the region’s great sports potential and the demand for its glorious traditions of sports mentoring.
I hope that during the year ahead of the Universiade, our students will hone their skills and please their fans, all fans of Russian sports with outstanding achievements and amazing victories.
Now about the facilities for the upcoming competition. Over the past year, they have almost been completed and will soon be put into operation. Among the positive aspects I would like to point out a good level of the Sopka cluster facilities, as well as a new passenger terminal at the Yemelyanovo international airport.
However, there are some facilities in the so-called red zone. This is primarily an integrated complex in the Universiade Village. I would like to find out today how things are going here, and as a whole, to pay close attention to the need for unconditional and timely fulfilment of the obligations undertaken by all those who are involved in this process.
Last year, I gave instructions to catch up on all delayed works. I would of course like to hear today, and this is why we are here, how things are going and what measures have been taken.
I would like to emphasise that the federal authorities and the Krasnoyarsk Territory Governor should closely monitor all Universiade arrangements, and above all, resolve any issues with the information and telecommunications technologies, the funding and the development of the Universiade Village and Krasnoyarsk itself.
Law enforcement agencies and security services also have a lot of responsibility. They should make sure in a timely and organised manner that security points have the necessary technical equipment and are up and running smoothly well in advance.
Particular attention should be devoted to the environmental issues. Let me say it again – our goal is to make Krasnoyarsk not only an important sports cluster but also a dynamic and comfortable city for people to live in, with modern urban and social infrastructure, safe environment, good jobs and a large investment potential.
We will talk more about the city’s environment. This is clearly one of the most sensitive problems, which should be addressed separately. Still, we should think about what could be done for the competitions in this area as well.
We organise such events, of course, in order to have a large-scale international sports celebration in this particular instance. But in any case, when arranging big political, humanitarian or sporting events, we do it primarily to help develop the infrastructure, to leave a legacy, as I said before, so that hundreds of thousands and millions of our people could use this infrastructure in the future. So, let us again look at the preparations from this angle.
Now, please, Mr Kolobkov, over to you.
Minister of Sport Pavel Kolobkov: Mr President, colleagues, good afternoon.
I would like to report on the preparations for the Universiade.
Mr President, as per your executive order, we have established an organising committee and adopted a plan for the preparations for the Universiade and approved a list of major construction projects.
In accordance with the requirements of the International University Sports Federation, we set up an executive directorate of the Universiade. The Federation’s representatives visit the Krasnoyarsk Territory regularly. They have paid nine visits in the past two years.
Our colleagues repeatedly inspected the construction of sports facilities in the Universiade Village. They know everything about the accommodation and logistics. Krasnoyarsk was also visited by representatives of all international and Russian federations of sports that are included in the Universiade’s programme.
All the experts expressed their positive opinion on the preparations for the event. The implementation of this project is carried out according to the schedule. The plan of preparations contains 73 activities that span all aspects of the process. Over 30 documents on regulating legal, financial and organisational aspects of the preparations, ensuring security and providing for the media coverage of the project have already been approved.
At present, a subsidy of over 40 billion rubles has been granted from the federal budget to finance the design and construction of the Universiade’s facilities, form the information and telecommunications infrastructure and conduct operational activities. We are implementing the concepts of transport, environmental and meteorological support and the broadcasting and cultural programmes of the Universiade.
The scenarios of the opening and closing ceremonies have been approved. Ilya Averbukh has been appointed the project’s production director. We all know him not only as an athlete but also as a talented producer. The Match TV Channel is working on all technical issues. Volunteer centres have been opened at universities in different cities. About 5,000 people will be involved in this project. Now they are being selected and trained.
Preparations are also underway for the Torch Relay. The final stage will be held in Moscow, St Petersburg and the cities that are home to federal universities. A regional stage of the relay will be also held in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Tickets to the games will be sold very soon now, in March. There will be 600,000 tickets, including free and discount tickets for people with disabilities, orphans and children.
It is notable that the Organising Committee has approved the Legacy programme. We are working with the region and sports federations on mechanisms for implementing this programme. Like in the case of world football cups and other big sports championships, our goal is to use the Legacy facilities to develop high-performance youth sports. We are working with sports federations to hold major national competitions in the region and to create a training centre and sports training facilities.
It is important that all these facilities meet the high standards of international federations and hence can host the biggest and most prestigious competitions in all events of freestyle skiing and snowboarding, several events in alpine skiing and other sports. The goal is to ensure that these facilities are used to full capacity. At the same time, we need to reduce the burden on the regional budget by using the commercial opportunities that the sports infrastructure offers and by holding federal events there.
Overall, we can say that the planning stage for the Universiade has been completed successfully. We now need to approve the accreditation programme and the training plan for the Russian national team. Both documents are to be approved in March.
(Pavel Kolobkov further spoke about some organisational and financial matters.)
I would like to conclude by saying that the Government of Russia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory authorities, acting under your instructions, have taken measures to accelerate the construction and renovation of the necessary facilities. As regards the commissioning of the facilities, we are finalising all technical and working documentation. Mr Uss will speak about this in detail.
Mr President, colleagues. The organisation of such a major event is a huge responsibility. But we intend to keep up the good work and will honour all our commitments and pledges to host Russia’s first Winter Universiade properly.
Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.
Mr Uss, go ahead please.
Acting Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Uss: Thank you.
Mr President, colleagues. Allow me to sum up some results that have already been achieved and mention the problems that are causing a degree of apprehension and require some comments.
The Organising Committee has approved a list of 34 major construction projects. These are sports facilities, the Universiade Village (we are now on its territory) and healthcare and transport infrastructure. Thirty facilities worth a total of 46 billion rubles are being funded from budget allocations – 31 billion rubles come from the federal budget and about 15 billion rubles from the territorial budget. We are working on 21 sports facilities and a security perimeter as a separate structure around Platinum Arena, including 14 new facilities that will be built and eight that will require an overhaul or major repairs. Norilsk Nickel and Russian Platinum are paying for the construction of two facilities. The federal and territorial budgets are taking care of all other facilities, as I have already said.
On the whole, the construction and overhaul of sports facilities is proceeding according to schedule. We are paying special attention to the facilities that are to be put into service in December 2018. There is some risk since the Universiade will begin just three to four months after that.
(Alexander Uss continued to discuss repair and construction work on specific facilities involved in the Universiade.)
In addition to the facilities included in the list approved by the Organising Committee, several additional infrastructure facilities are under construction: Yemelyanovo Airport which is one of the most beautiful structures in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, a food production facility, security perimeter around the Village, and a special car fleet. I will not comment on them because I think everything is okay there.
There are several issues that require special attention during today’s meeting. I would like to say a few words about the legacy that Mr Kolobkov mentioned. We will have some facilities of the world class. Thus, the indoor Yenisei Stadium for bandy is one of the best in the world and in Europe too. There are many such facilities nearby, for instance the Raduga cluster.
Naturally, it would be correct and in the interests of the state to use these facilities not only for the needs of the residents of the Krasnoyarsk Territory but on a broader scale. This is why despite the fact that the Legacy programme has been formally approved by the Organising Committee under Vitaly Mutko’s chairmanship, we agreed by consensus to come back to these decisions once again and maybe to amend some of them to make this programme more meaningful for the future.
As for getting Krasnoyarsk ready for the event, it so happened that until recently we did not have a detailed plan of this central facility of the Universiade. Now we have the plan. It includes three major areas of work.
First, of course, is mobilising people. People should understand that this is their city, and putting things in order and making it neat and clean is for their sake. Therefore, the city’s entire territory is divided into districts and streets that are allocated to district administrations and managing companies. When summer comes, we will start large-scale routine work on cleaning the city and removing anything that shouldn’t be there.
Speaking about the second area of work, Mr President, I would like to thank all those present – executives and representatives of our large corporations and financial and industrial companies – for their readiness to take part in improving the city, primarily its main structures. I am referring to bridge illumination and improvements to our central squares. After the design of the things our colleagues from the business community will do, was ready, people in Krasnoyarsk called them the seven wonders of Krasnoyarsk. I hope these expectations will be justified to some extent.
Finally, it is necessary to put in order and upgrade the so-called protocol roads and territories adjacent to sports facilities. Regrettably, we have a serious omission in this respect. Quite often dilapidated housing built in the 1950s is located near wonderful palaces, literally, within 100–150 metres. Unfortunately, no funds have been allocated for putting it in order.
Mr President, at tomorrow’s session of the Legislative Assembly we will ask for the allocation of an additional two billion rubles to deal with this issue. But sadly, these funds will not be enough to carry out everything we have planned.
And finally, Universiade Village requires more equipment and amenities. Siberian Federal University has submitted a request for additional funds for this work and we hope the Ministry of Education and the Finance Ministry will find a source of funds in the near future because we have only one construction season left.
Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.
Ms Vasilyeva, go ahead please.
Minister of Education and Science Olga Vasilyeva: Thank you.
Mr President,
I will not repeat what Mr Uss has said. This is what I would like to say. You and Mr Uss spoke about a multipurpose complex. Indeed, we are convinced that it will be put into service before the end of the year – in September, and the documents will be ready in December.
However, one of the seven new facilities is the security perimeter of the Village which runs through the entire campus of Siberian Federal University. These are enclosures and security systems.
At present we are preparing documents for a tender of contractor companies. This is a very short time frame but the perimeter must be put into operation in December. We are confident – and Mr Uss supports us – that the perimeter will be ready by that time. All these facilities fully meet the requirements of the International University Sports Federation.
But there are five more dormitories and two buildings in Universiade Village, where officials and delegations of the participating countries will be accommodated. These buildings and dormitories were built in 2010, and, of course, they are a good environment for students to live and learn. But for events at the international level, we need the following works: maintenance repairs, select major repairs, which refers to the utility grids that serve the entire Village, providing comfortable living conditions, namely, stoves, washing machines, equipment, including soft equipment.
Also, according to FISU requirements, we must make certain improvements. What does this mean? We must have thematic zones, such as welcoming teams, flower ceremonies, recreation zones, flag alleys, these are all existing international standards. So, we cannot carry out improvement works without creating such zones. As such, these five dormitories, two buildings and the improvement of the building will require additional money, Mr President, 1.12 billion rubles. They are not included in the budget for 2018, although the relevant applications were sent and we sent them on time.
And I would urge you, Mr President, to instruct the Government of the Russian Federation to allocate additional budget funds in the amount of 1.12 billion, because if we do all this, I am sure the Universiade will be the best in history, this third Universiade in the history of our country. Because we have to receive, as you correctly said, 100 member states. And of course, we want it to be better than the Universiade in Astana.
Thank you.
Remark: Quite possible.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.
Mr Nikiforov, the floor is yours.
Minister of Communications and Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov: Mr President,
You said in your speech that first of all we need, among other things, to clear up the situation with the information and telecommunication support of the Universiade. I will briefly report on the status of what has been done, and what has not been done.
In all, we have allocated 3.2 billion rubles for this purpose. A quarter of this amount will be spent by the federal ministry that is working on 16 basic programme modules. In this respect we are making the most of the experience gained at the Kazan Universiade, the Sochi Olympics and the Confederations Cup.
What kind of system is it? It runs accreditation, volunteer work and the use of the resources that are involved in managing Universiade, accommodation, catering and event scheduling – all these managerial jobs. Three quarters of the funds will be allocated as a subsidy to the Krasnoyarsk Territory. These are infrastructure elements, the entire telecommunications system for the Universiade that will continue being used afterwards – communications networks, telecommunications and other equipment. For example, the transport system is already servicing intercity buses. The contact centre will help medical workers, etc. In other words, there are comprehensive plans for the further use of these facilities.
There has been a certain lag in designing. We had problems with our contractor who did not fulfil his obligations. He was fined and our regional team has been promptly eliminating all these delays.
We have asked the Government to transfer 200 million rubles from the 2017 budget to 2018 and believe that our territory and the federal ministry will achieve the objectives. We do not see any risk. I would just like to draw your attention to one point. It always happens that communications operators are the last to work at the facilities because it is almost impossible to work on these very detailed systems during basic construction. Therefore, in the final months of the preparations we will have the toughest schedule. That said we understand how to carry out and complete this project.
We will not be able to conduct the event at a proper level without modern communications technology but our accumulated experience allows us to be confident about holding the Universiade in Krasnoyarsk.
Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.
See, Mr Kolobkov talked about funding and said 40 billion was allocated from the federal budget, right? But according to the information I have, the total was 46.2 billion with 31.4 billion coming from the federal budget. Where does the number 40 come from?
Pavel Kolobkov: It covers transport, not just sports infrastructure. It is the grand total on everything.
Vladimir Putin: That’s all right then.
And now regarding what has been a problem for us and still is, somewhat. The deadlines have been shifted for 20 facilities, 17 of them are sports facilities. What has this resulted in? It led to testing being put off until October 2018 and February 2019. It means the athletes will be unable to use the facilities (even though they are supposed to compete at home). And it also means that the facilities will have to be tried and tested, they have to live a life of their own, as we are aware of how complicated those structures really are. I am not even talking about the ceilings and floors, for them to be in order and hold the load, it is also important that they should function properly; there are a lot of smart details there. The training process will fall behind.
Regarding information, communications and telecommunications facilities in these buildings, the Minister just said that everything is coming together. How confident are you that everything will be done on time?
Nikolai Nikiforov: I am completely confident, Mr President. The delay was due to the designing.
Vladimir Putin: And?
Nikolai Nikiforov: The situation has been rectified now.
Vladimir Putin: Regarding the Village. Mr Uss mentioned some contracts being cancelled.
Alexander Uss: Contracts on multipurpose centres.
Vladimir Putin: Yes, now new contracts have been signed. What we need is for them to get to work, and to work properly.
Why do I say this? I have been involved with facilities and projects like this a number of times. We had cases where contracts were terminated with new contractors again and again. New contractors would come, work for some time, then their contract was terminated, and then again with the next contractor. Meanwhile, the deadlines are not met time and again. And costs increase, which is sad.
Regarding the regional clinical hospital. It is one of the universal legacy sites. This is something young athletes, students will be using, and it will then remain for Krasnoyarsk residents to use. I think it very odd when I read about the reason for funds going unused. The reason is the abundance. So, in this case there is funding, but the amounts are too large, you see, that’s why it cannot be used. It is very odd indeed.
Of course, the next stage is procurement of equipment, as the Governor just discussed, followed by the installation of medical equipment and so on. Obviously, there will be fierce competition for that. And we need competition to save budget funds and to get the best result. But we do not fetishize competition, it is not competition for competition’s sake, it all goes toward the final result. And so, I ask you to really focus on this and prevent any red tape concerning the choice of contractors. It is clear that companies will be fighting over the contracts but a decision must be taken. If major decisions are needed at the Government level, just tell us about it in due time. We cannot eternally pick and choose and fiddle around with who gets a contract or who earns money on it (honestly, I hope) and makes a good showing, but the decisions must be made in due time, otherwise it will never end.
Now we are speaking about reshuffling of funds. I am not saying it should not be done, it should, but last year’s unused funds in the Krasnoyarsk Territory alone amount to 208.7 million. Unused. According to the data available to me.
And apart from that, the issue of additional funding is raised, including for this Village. As far as I see, the university is requesting additional funding in the amount of 1.12 billion rubles. For some reason nobody is speaking about that.
Mr Kotyakov, will you please comment on all that.
Deputy Finance Minister Anton Kotyakov: Mr President,
As to the transfer of 2.3 billion rubles [from 2019 to 2018 at the request of the Ministry of Sport]. I want to say that we have worked it out with the Ministry of Sport, and the transfer will be made. The only problem is that we wanted to do it more promptly within the consolidated budget quarterly breakdown, however, all the caps for the Ministry of Sport have already been set for the current year, and so we will have to do it via amendments to the budget law. We will do it during the spring session.
It will be done by reshuffling funds of other major recipients.
Vladimir Putin: It’s important to do it on time.
Anton Kotyakov: Yes.
Management has simpler purchasing procedures these days. Based on the schedule, we believe they should be able to purchase the equipment on time.
Additional funds for the university total 1.12 billion rubles. The application for these funds was received after the budget was set. Today the Ministry of Education has 6.8 billion rubles earmarked for 2018 for major and current university repairs and the purchase of equipment: 4.7 billion rubles for major repairs and 2.1 billion rubles for new equipment.
Together with our colleagues, we believe we will spend this amount. We will partially cover it by using budget allocations and will also submit proposals for additional funding.
Vladimir Putin: Look, they must already have the plans for these reconstructions. So, Ms Vasilyeva, these issues must be resolved quickly. During the spring session they will be able to make some amendments and allocate more funds to the Ministry so the work can continue on the other facilities as you have planned. However, at this point, delay is unacceptable.
Anton Kotyakov: Since our colleagues have not yet distributed the 6.8 billion rubles, we can use the funds for our priority tasks and replenish them in the spring from other sources.
Vladimir Putin: All right. Thank you.
Colleagues, who wants to add anything?
Mr Smirnov, go ahead please.
First Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service Sergei Smirnov: Mr President, security is ensured according to plan. We do not have any special problems. They are linked, as was observed, with the failure of the designers to give timely answers to questions that we raised for security reasons. For this reason, out of 30 facilities that are supposed to be provided with security systems, this issue was fully coordinated with law enforcement agencies with regard to 17 facilities, whereas at 11 works is still in progress. The Ministry of the Interior has about five facilities to oversee, we also have about five, and the National Guard has some, and so. But we are resolving these issues in the usual course of our work and are not worried so far.
Vladimir Putin: Good.
Mr Kolokoltsev, please.
Minister of the Interior Vladimir Kolokoltsev: I agree with Mr Smirnov. In principle, the approved additional budgetary funds worth 1.2 billion rubles have been allocated. We are considering the forces and equipment we will need and monitoring the works on the counterterrorism systems. We are doing this in coordination with the FSB and the Russian National Guard. We do not see any particular problems in this area.
Vladimir Putin: Mr Chikhanchin, what are you doing in this regard? Do you think it is possible that some financial fraud is taking place here?
Head of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring Yury Chikhanchin: I hope not, Mr President.
I would like to say that we are working with the Treasury to monitor the disposal of budgetary allocations, and the situation with monitoring is improving. We will analyse the problem with the unused additional allocations of some 300 million rubles. If we uncover any problems, we will settle them together with the law enforcement agencies.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.
Mr Asaul, what can you say about transportation?
Deputy Transport Minister Nikolai Asaul: Mr President, we are proceeding in accordance with the plan. The airport has opened, and we are now installing checkpoint equipment. A state contract has been signed, and the necessary funds have been allocated from the federal budget, from the reserve fund as per your instruction. We will complete the development of the checkpoint by August 2018. There is no question about this.
As for buying road transport vehicles, we have identified the sources of funding this purchase: 600 million rubles will come from the federal budget and the other 600 million from the budget of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. We will use these funds to buy some 150 buses and to lease 74 buses.
Other instructions concerned the expediency of building a railway line towards Yemelyanovo Airport. After analysing the operation of airport express trains in Kazan and to Knevichi Airport in Vladivostok, where the occupancy is low, we have decided against building such a line towards Yemelyanovo Airport now. The construction of roads and motorways is proceeding to plan, as the Governor has said. Federal allocations have been transferred, contracts with the Federal Road Agency have been signed, and the facilities will open to transport this year.
Vladimir Putin: What is the population of Vladivostok? Krasnoyarsk has a population of over 1million people, so we should consider this issue again. Vladivostok and Krasnoyarsk are not in the same league in terms of population. Krasnoyarsk is a million-plus city. I do not insist on this, but I ask you to consider this issue again.
Nikolai Asaul: Of course, Mr President, we will.
Vladimir Putin: We have here representatives of major companies operating in the region. Colleagues, does anyone want to say something? No?
Norilsk Nickel CEO Vladimir Potanin: Everything is advancing as planned.
Vladimir Putin: If so, let us move on.
Mr Uss raised questions concerning a number of facilities, including the Sopka cluster, which we have visited, and Raduga. He said that they should be used by federal bodies. Of course, this can be done in the sense that they will have federal status, while their primary purpose will still be to serve Krasnoyarsk residents. A federal educational institution or an Olympic reserve school could be established there. I would like to ask Mr Kolobkov to share his views on this matter. If this is the way we choose to develop these facilities, what sport will they focus on?
Pavel Kolobkov: Mr President, as I have already said, this will be more than just national facilities. They will operate at the international level. To make good and effective use of them, we propose creating a federal Olympic reserve school specialised in winter sports. As you know, Siberia and especially Krasnoyarsk are famous for promoting snowboarding, freestyle, bobsleigh and even skeleton (Alexander Tretyakov, who will not compete in the Olympics, was trained in Krasnoyarsk). We are currently discussing with the region the project to build a ski jump park there, including small jumps (it used to be there, close to these sports facilities). We are ready to work this out with the region. Of course, these facilities would benefit Siberia and the country. There is no doubt that the project would require additional funding. We will work on it, Mr President, and I will report to you separately on this initiative.
By the way, we have opted for the same approach in Kondopoga, with the only difference that the cluster there will focus on ice hockey and figure skating. This way we could create a network of federal schools for training young athletes.
Mr President, there is another thing I wanted to say, on a separate note. I reported to you about the Torch Relay. We are currently in talks with our colleagues, since this relay is designed as an international event, not merely a domestic project. There are a number of questions in this regard, since the International University Sports Federation is headquartered in Lucerne and Lausanne. They propose organising a leg of the relay there. Taking into account this situation, we will report to you separately on whether we believe holding the relay there would be feasible or advisable.
Vladimir Putin: I suggest that we refrain from mashing all the scandals together. Student sport is a standalone initiative. Let us not blow things out of proportion. This should be resolved with dignity, without taking notice of any superficial add-ons. Is that understood? What else?
Here is what I wanted to say to round up this conversation. We are discussing a major international sports event. As I said in the beginning, we always prepared events of this kind at the highest level and properly, leaving a legacy for people in the host region that they can use. In this case, we are talking about Siberia and Krasnoyarsk.
Yes, not everything is going smoothly, but there is no reason for major concern. I very much hope that no such reasons will arise in the future. The quality of preparations and their timeliness depend on all of you present here today. We have to keep in mind that the final stages in the preparations are always the hardest. There should be no place for complacency or self-reassurance that everything is fine. We have to remember that the final stage is the most challenging one. This means that we have to focus our attention and efforts, get organised and work as a team. I very much hope that this will be the case.
Thank you very much!