Austria's ski federation has made an inquiry about the skiing conditions in Vitosha Mountain that dominates over the capital city Sofia. The inquiry comes just as sports experts in Bulgaria started to promote the idea for a second Olympics hosting bid of the country.

Bulgaria's Sports Minister Vassil Iliev who also favors a possible candidature for the 2014 Winter Olympics said the committee of the initiators has to present the idea in a way that would warm up the whole nation to it. According to him, the Vitosha Mountain and its favorable location is the most powerful argument in Bulgaria's bid.

"If we want to win the Olympics, we have to start massive re-constructions. The infrastructure and the airport come first on the list," the minister pointed out. Vassilev announced that a bob-slay run would be built on the Northern slope of Vitosha Mountain. The chosen spot is one that will have the ice intact for the longest possible time but the project will start only after ecologists greenlight it.

A few days ago, a committee has been set up to work out Sofia's offer to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, President of Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC) Ivan Slavkov said. "It is not clear yet what resources will be needed to build the necessary sports facilities but start-up money is available," Slavkov pointed out. Bulgaria's second pilot-cosmonaut Alexander Alexandrov chairs the initiators' committee.

novinite.com, 22 January 2003, Wednesday

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