MOSCOW - A Russian cabinet official in charge of preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi blasted local environmentalists on Friday, saying they are taking an "unconstructive" position.
As the four-year countdown to the Games begins, ecologists charge that picturesque areas surrounding the Black Sea resort of Sochi have been destroyed, spring water has been contaminated by heavy metal waste and the construction of the facilities is hazardously amateur.
Referring to Russian environmentalists, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said that "instead of trying to solve ecological problems and compensation measures, people are taking an absolutely unconstructive position," Russian news agencies reported.
Many of the domestic NGOs, Kozak was quoted as saying, are "simply targeting the derailment of the Games project," adding that experts from the United Nations Environment Program had arrived at that conclusion after consultations with the groups.
Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for UNEP, refused to comment on Kozak's claim, saying the report was not yet complete.
Last month, Igor Chestin, the head of the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund, said the group had ceased co-operation with Olympic organizers, complaining their concerns were being ignored. Greenpeace Russia has also withdrawn from discussions, according to Andrei Petrov, the group's World Heritage program co-ordinator.
Also Friday, Kozak warned state Olympic constructor Olimpstroi that it should increase the pace of building. The luge and bobsled track is now slightly behind schedule, he said, adding that it would come into operation by the end of 2012, a six-month delay.
All facilities are being built from scratch for the Sochi Games, to be held in two clusters outside the city itself. Ice rink-based events will be held at a coastal cluster, while a mountain cluster will feature skiing, snowboarding and bobsledding, among other sports.
Activists say the chief environmental threat is to the Mzymta River, which connects the two clusters. Thousands of beech trees have been felled to clear the path for a road and rail link that skirts the river.