SOCHI, Russia -- An interactive website launched Monday by anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny paints a vivid picture of the suspected cost overruns and conflicts of interest at the Sochi Winter Olympics. [url=http://www.officialblackhawksfanstore.com/authentic-dylan-strome-bl ackhawks-jersey/]Dyl

SOCHI, Russia -- An interactive website launched Monday by anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny paints a vivid picture of the suspected cost overruns and conflicts of interest at the Sochi Winter Olympics. Dylan Strome Jersey . Russia has spent about $51 billion to deliver the Sochi Olympics, which run Feb. 7-23, making them the most expensive games ever, even though as a winter event it hosts many fewer athletes than summer games do. Navalny claims that Russia spent twice as much as necessary to build at least 10 of the Olympic venues -- including the Bolshoi Ice Palace, the Fisht Stadium for the opening/closing ceremonies and the speed-skating arena. Allegations of corruption have dogged preparations for the Sochi Games for years, as reported by The Associated Press and others. Navalnys new website -- Sochi.FBK.info -- combines data gathered during his own investigations along with media reports and other activists analysis. Using colorful graphics, the website makes a wide range of data accessible in English and Russian. "Athletes are not the only people who compete in Sochi," Navalny, who finished a strong second in Moscows mayoral election last year, wrote on the website. "Officials and businessmen also took part in the games and turned them into a source of income." President Vladimir Putin has rejected claims about rampant corruption in Sochi, saying the inflated prices were due to the honest mistakes of investors who underestimated the costs. "If anybody has got this information, please show this to us," Putin said in a recent television interview. "But so far we havent seen anything except speculation." A 2012 report by the governments Audit Chamber found about 15 billion rubles (about $500 million) in "unreasonable" cost overruns in the preparations for the Sochi Olympics. Auditors found that the work of some staff members at Olympstroi, the state company in charge of Sochi construction, between 2008 and 2010 was "conducive to incurring unreasonable cost overruns." At least three criminal investigations against Olympstroi employees have been opened, but none of them has reached court. Olympstroi has since changed its management. The Sochi Organizing Committee would not comment Monday on Navalnys new website. When asked about it, Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said the IOC stands "against any form of corruption." "Whenever there have been concerns and accusations and information in the past, they have been passed on to the organizing committee," Bach said. Navalny does not seem to provide solid evidence of how money was stolen during the many Sochi construction projects. This has proven extremely difficult to do, because the games were not covered by Russian laws on tenders and procurement, making officials unaccountable for the money spent. Olympstroi was given free rein by Putin to "determine the ground rules for selecting investors and contractors" for Olympic venues. This created fertile ground for corruption in the allocation of funds, according to Ivan Ninenko, deputy director of Transparency International in Moscow. Olympstroi "is even less transparent than companies in (Russias) state-owned sector, where corruption is rife," he told the AP. The total amount of state contracts overseen by Olympstroi was about 700 billion rubles, or $22 billon, according to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, the government official in charge of the games. A website Navalny set up in 2010, called Rospil, has monitored thousands of Russian state contracts and appealed to law enforcement agencies to get the murky ones annulled. Rospil has been successful in overturning nearly 130 contracts worth nearly $2 billion in taxpayer money. Not for the Sochi Games, though. "Opportunities for public control are very limited" for Sochi contracts, said Konstantin Kalmykov, who works for Navalny. All it takes is a presidential or government decree to award a contract to a specific firm. "If there were regular public control in place, that would be a big factor in saving funds and increasing efficiency of spending," Kalmykov said. Navalnys new website lists several Sochi construction projects with evident conflicts of interest. In one of the most glaring examples, the Ice Cube curling stadium was built by a company controlled by businessman Alexander Svishchev, the father of Dmitry Svishchev, president of the Russian curling federation, the website said, citing public records. One of the key beneficiaries of lucrative Olympic contracts was Putins childhood friend Arkady Rotenberg. Through a majority-owned subsidiary, Rotenberg holds nearly 39 per cent of the Mostotrest company, which amassed a dozen Olympics-related state contracts to build nearly all of the highways in the area. "The biggest contractor is Arkady Rotenberg, who is -- surprise! -- Vladimir Putins friend," Navalny told The Associated Press. "And we saw here the same people who are Vladimir Putins friends and who traditionally win such big tenders." Mostotrests contracts in Sochi amounted to $3.1 billion, including a $1.6 billion bypass for Sochi, as well as tunnels, bridges and railroads, the company confirmed to the AP. The Russian business daily Vedomosti in 2009 analyzed scores of tenders for Olympic contracts and discovered that the majority of bids were very close to the maximum the state said it would pay and in many cases bidders were barred from running, leaving one company to claim the contract. Mostotrest won the $1.6 billion bypass contract after firms owned by tycoons Oleg Deripaska and Roman Abramovich dropped out of the competition in 2009. Mostotrest offered to build the road for 59.36 billion rubles, just barely below the maximum state price of 60.9 billion rubles. Erik Gustafsson Blackhawks Jersey . Re-signed by the club to a one-year, two-way (NHL/AHL) contract on July 5, Bass appeared in three preseason games with Columbus prior to breaking a bone in his hand on Sept. ED Belfour Blackhawks Jersey .Boston beat the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Tuesday night and celebrated consecutive wins for the first time in more than a month. http://www.officialblackhawksfanstore.com/authentic-alex-debrincat-blackhawks-jersey/ . Felix Pie had an RBI double earlier in the inning, as Baltimore rallied for three runs to overcome a 3-2 deficit. J.J. Hardy had two hits and Matt Wieters chipped in with an RBI double for the Orioles, who pushed their winning streak to three games.Preseason is a time for new beginnings - the chance to start afresh with a belief that anything can happen. That was certainly true for Toronto FC as they opened up their training camp in Bradenton last week. The troubles and uncertainties that surrounded the club in recent years have been replaced by a new hope and optimism after an incredible offseason transformation that has included the signings of three new Designated Players, Jermain Defoe, Michael Bradley and Gilberto. I was in Florida for Torontos first training session. The energy and enthusiasm was on a completely different level compared to other years. Perhaps the biggest difference is that the squad has already been assembled and most of the key pieces are already in place. A far cry from a year ago, when Nelsen was heading into his first coaching job with a preseason squad filled with trialists. "Its a wee bit different, Ive got to admit," Ryan Nelsen told me after training in Bradenton. Its nice to have a proper squad together all pulling in the right direction. As you can see by today, the work ethic is there, the character is there and everybody is extremely excited." The difference compared to 12 months earlier is evident in all areas, but especially in personnel. Over half of the squad currently in Florida were not with the team for preseason in 2013. However, Nelsen and the players are talking up the fact that the core of the team that finished the season is still in place. "We havent changed that much, weve probably changed the same as most teams, but weve done it in big names so it makes it even more dramatic. But thats what we had to do with this club. Thats why what we did last year had method in our madness. Weve got some big names and we will have to gel them in, but its a progression and we have to keep moving the club forward." The theme Nelsens rookie season as head coach was "short-term pain for long-term gaiin," and things have now changed quickly. Martin Havlat Jersey. With multi-million dollar signings amongst a re-shaped squad, expectations are high. But after dealing with a tumultuous first year with the club, Nelsen laughed off the suggestion that there is pressure on him to find a winning formula quickly. "Theres absolutely no pressure," he said. "Whenever you put yourself in a situation where youve brought in good players, everybody else thinks there is expectation but for us we just try and improve every day. In everything we do, we try to become perfect. Whatever people think from outside we dont really care." "I knew the league last year but we didnt have the right pieces to be successful. Now I think we are moving in the right direction, but Im still learning as well. Ill always keep learning. When I stop learning I may as well give up," he said. Theres a new face heavily involved in Torontos training sessions this preseason. Englishman Adrian Lamb has joined the club as Fitness Coach. He has previously worked with Newcastle United, Preston North End and Aston Villa, and he was at Blackburn Rovers during Ryan Nelsens time as a player at Ewood Park. Nelsen told me Lambs preparation and attention to detail is immaculate, and that was easy to see during my time in Bradenton. He has very clear ideas of what he wants from the players and was impressive in the way he communicated to them. Lamb will bring a very professional approach to the teams conditioning this season and will be a key addition to Nelsens staff. In 2013, Toronto FC won just six matches and missed the playoffs by 20 points, but Nelsen and his staff have now been handed the tools they need to turn the ship around. The foundation for success will be laid over the next six weeks, as Nelsen and Co. make sure their team is ready to hit the ground running when the season opens in Seattle on March 15th live on TSN. ' ' '