The construction cost of the F1 circuit in the Russian Black Sea resort town of Sochi is to go up by one-third, the developer says. The total construction cost of the Sochi Int'l Street Circuit, which is to host an inaugural race next year, will be 11B rubles ($341M), a spokesperson for Tsentr Omega, the project’s developer company, which is run by the regional authorities, told SBD Global. He did not, however, explain why the figure was considerably higher than what was previously announced. When the agreement about holding an F1 race near Sochi was signed by Krasnodarsky Krai Governor Alexander Tkachev and F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone in Oct. '10, the project’s total cost was estimated at $200M. In late '12, the figure of 7.9B rubles ($245M) was reported by the Russian media.
WHO GETS THE BILL? In Oct.'11, Krasnodar Krai authorities said that the federal government had earmarked just less than $200M for the construction of the circuit. It is not yet clear where the remaining cash will come from. Business daily Vedomosti quoted Gennady Sayenko, head of Tsentr Omega’s division in charge of the F1 circuit construction, as saying that that the previous estimates did not take into account some requirements by the project’s design company, Germany’s Tilke GmbH. The Grand Prix of Russia is on the F1 calendar for next year and is scheduled to run on Oct. 5.
Vladimir Kozlov is a writer in Moscow.
