TOKYO, Jan. 11 Japanese firms will help build artificial islands in the Black Sea off the Russian resort city of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics, a report said Friday.
Aslan Atabiyev, head of the Russian-Japanese business council, told reporters in Tokyo, that "Japan's participation and their technology is particularly interesting to Russia," which lacks the expertise to construct such islands in areas with high seismic activity, RIA Novosti reported.
Sochi has been chosen as the venue for the Winter Olympics, Feb. 7-23, 2014.
Atabiyev said the project calls for building more than 10 islands for housing Olympic facilities.
Former Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma, who heads the country's committee for the promotion of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, was quoted as saying he hoped the project would help improve relations with Russia.
Copyright 2008 by UPI
