OREANDA-NEWS. July 19, 2010. To update the complex environmental impact assessment (EIA) of Olympic venues, SC Olympstroy is planning to review design documentation of certain venues and to undertake further surveying. SC Olympstroy expects to receive bids and offers concerning the programmes of additional environmental activities which will be aimed at preserving the endangered animal and plant species of the Sochi region as well as their unique natural habitat.

Already while preparing the Sochi 2014 Bid Book, the corporation undertook an environmental impact assessment and carried out the zoning of the national park for the purpose of Olympic venues construction. The analysis was based on the results of the field surveys and measurements, which were conducted in 2006-2007 and included the study of landscape, groundwater and geomorphological conditions, as well as vegetation surveys, dendrology research, and long-term flora and fauna observations carried out by professional environmentalists. Since then, however, the construction program has undergone considerable alterations among other things concerning the location of certain venues and their increasing number. Although the complex environmental impact assessment of Olympic venues is not required by the Russian legislation, the corporation will be taking on this additional obligation.

Gleb Vatletsov, who heads SC Olympstroy's department responsible for environmental protection, has stated that the preliminary specifications required for the complex EIA would be first approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, as well as by relevant research establishments and non-governmental environmental organizations.