Trutnev: ecologists' complains on Sochi preparation for the Olympiad destroy the image of Russia

Yuri Trutnev, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, believes that the claims put forward by ecologists in the context of preparation for 2014 Sochi Olympiad can undermine the image of Russia.

This was Mr Minister's comment on the recent statement of ecological organizations that the experts of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) demanded to relocate Olympic objects, in particular, the sledge-bobsleigh complex and the Olympic village, from the Grushevoy Ridge to another place.

The Ministry for Protection of the Environment and Natural Resources ("Minprirody") of Russia is not going to relocate any of the Olympic sites, despite appeals of ecologists. Today, Mr Trutnev has stated that the sledge-bobsleigh track cannot render any influence on the environment, the RIA "Novosti" informs.

"Are we serious when saying that this sledge-bobsleigh track, where people will run down in the sledges during 10-15 days, can negatively tell on the world natural heritage object having a total area of 7 million hectares? It seems to me that it can't render any negative effect. However, it can undermine the image of the country where we all live," said Yuri Trutnev.

He has added that Sochi will get 4 billion roubles on addressing environmental problems, and the funds will be spent not only on the ecological support programme of construction of the Olympic objects, but also on improvement of the ecological situation of the resort as a whole, the ITAR-TASS reports.