By David Gold at the International Business Forum in Sochi

Dmitry_Chernyshenko__giving_speech_September_2011September 16 - Dmitry Chernyshenko (pictured), the President and chief executive of Sochi 2014, has said that the city is thankful for the support of London 2012 as the Black Sea resort gears up to welcome the world in three years time.


Sochi received a glowing report from the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Coordination Commission earlier this week.

Their visit came just as British Prime Minister David Cameron was leaving Russia with a British delegation including Sebastian Coe, head of London 2012.

Cameron spoke of his hope that Russia and Britain could improve their relationship through sport, given the shared experiences they will enjoy by hosting the next summer and winter Olympic Games respectively.

"There are a whole range of sectors where we have complementary strengths which can boost our mutual prosperity, from supporting the modernisation of Russian railways to working together in the run up to the London Olympics and the Sochi Winter Olympics, where British companies are already working on the main stadia," Cameron said during a keynote speech when he visited Moscow.

Britain's relationship with Russia is worse than that of any other Western European state, and the British Prime Minister took the opportunity to try to rebuild bridges.

It was the first visit by a British Prime Minister since Tony Blair visited in 2005.

There were some bright points from the visit, with Visit Britain and the Russian Tourism Agency signing an agreement that will bring plenty of opportunities for British businesses.

Commenting on the visit, Chernyshenko, said: "This visit to Russia by such a senior British delegation reflects the excellent relationship that I and all my team at Sochi 2014 enjoy with Seb Coe and London 2012.

"Whilst each organisation is quite different, we share best practice and cooperate in a number of ways in our common goal to host an outstanding Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"There is no doubt that Sochi 2014 has benefited from British expertise and now we are in a position to pass on our expertise to future major event organisers."

Chernyshenko's words came as business leaders from across the world convened in Sochi to discuss investment and growth in Russia in the coming years.

On Friday, he was present at the signing of an eco-memorandum between Sochi 2014 and its partner JSC Ingosstrakh, with Ingosstrakh insurance joining the United Nations Environment Programme.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
September 2011: Olympics can help bring Britain and Russia closer together claims David Cameron