It will take EUR 1.332 M for Bulgaria to erect Olympic sports facilities as part of its 2014 games bid.

At a special press conference on Tuesday, the chairman of the Bulgarian Ski Federation Tseko Minev explained the finances are to be collected through sponsorship, advertising and commercial items.

The concept of Sofia 2014 and all supportive paperwork must be submitted to the International Olympic Committee in January 2006, the national games organising committee announced.

Under the concept, the mountain pearls of Borovets and Bansko will focus the main activities to be part of the Olympic games.

The key Olympic village will be built up in the outskirts of Vitosha mountain, just on the outgoing Sofia road running to Borovets.

The capital city is planned to host a selected part of winter sports, including ice skating, short track, bobsleigh, sledge and curling.

Under the project, two multifunctional sport halls will rise in the neighbourhood areas of Mladost and the West Park. Training facilities will be erected in the Winter Palace, Slavia Complex and Festival Hall, Bulgarian organisers revealed.

Sofia - and the whole world - will see awarding ceremonies broadcast directly from the National Stadium "Vassil Levski".

To meet all requirements of an Olympic capital, Sofia is to solve the problem with insufficient parking lots and hotel accommodation, former sports minister and member of the organising committee Vassil Ivanov said.

Bulgaria has enhanced its Olympics 2014 bid with arguments of popularizing the unique natural and cultural heritage of the country, developing local sports facilities and transport infrastructure and creating many new jobs.

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has already stood firmly behind Sofia's candidature to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Because Sofia is a strong candidate city for the 2014 Winter Olympics and Bansko will be the No. 1 Olympic centre if Sofia's bid is successful, property investors are positioning themselves ahead of the predicted curve by buying off plan ski properties in Bulgaria's number one ski resort, experts have said.

Seven countries will compete with Olympics 2014 bids, among them Spain, Austria, Russia, South Korea, Georgia and Kazakhstan

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