Plans for the Sochi games have been criticized by environmental activists, scientists, human rights advocates, and other experts for a host of problems that ranges from unpaid and abused construction workers to irreparable damage to Sochi’s unique natural environment. Dr. Sergei Volkov, who fled Russia out of fear of persecution, has voiced concerns particularly about the road in question. “It’s a potentially dangerous area,” he said. “There have been big landslides in the past and there are large deposits of mercury, uranium and other potentially dangerous minerals. But all scientific advice is being ignored.”

While any potential geological disasters are still, thankfully, only theoretical, the money being spent on the Alder-Krasnaya Polyana road is quite tangible. Aside from the fact that the project requires a great deal of intensive construction work – boring through large chunks of mountain, for example – much of the cost is suspected to be eaten up by inefficiency and corruption. To illustrate the absurdity of such a high cost – whatever its reasons may be – the Russian imprint of Esquire magazine has calculated the amount of caviar, foie gras, or mink coats that could be bought for the same sum of money – and how thick the Olympic road would turn out if it was built from the purchased goods.

All images copyright Esquire Magazine. The original article in Russian is available by clicking here.

Oysters……………………………………………………….6.37 cm
Based on the price of oysters in a standard Moscow restaurant ($4 a piece).

Black caviar……………………………………………………1.1 cm
Based on the wholesale price of a 30 gram can of beluga caviar ($42).

Ground-up Louis Vuitton handbags………………………….9 cm
Based on the price of the ‘Knightsbridge’ Louis Vuitton handbag ($1,372).

Foie gras……………………………………………………21.90 cm
Based on the price of foie gras in the French supermarket Carrefour ($88 per kilogram).

US Dollars………………………………………………….0.028 cm
Based on $100 banknotes (each being 0.014 cm thick).

Fur coats………………………………………………………4.7 cm
Based on the Moscow price of a mink coat 90 cm in length ($4,900).

Truffles……………………………………………………………6 cm
Based on the mid-range seasonal price for a kilogram of black truffles ($1,300).

Hennessey Cognac……………………………………..13.85 cm
Based on the Moscow price of one liter of Hennessey VSOP ($111).

Speaking to the BBC, Volkov said that construction of major Olympic facilities in Sochi is being done “too hastily, without a proper system for the engineering research that would be appropriate for these environmental dangers.”

Numerous ecologists have been voicing concerns for years already that Olympic construction in Sochi will lead to irreparable damage of one of the world’s most unique biospheres. In February, the Russian bureau of the World Wildlife Foundation issued a scathing press release slamming Olympstroy’s failure to heed objections and warnings made by their ecologists, and decrying preparations for the games as “out of control.” Meanwhile, residents have complained of forced evictions to make way for new facilities, and some unpaid workers have staged hunger strikes to draw attention to their plight.

But as a geologist, Dr. Volkov is primarily concerned about plans for a combination road and railway that will link the coastal center of the city of Sochi with the mountains in Krasnaya Polyana, where most of the Olympic events are planned to take place. When then-President Vladimir Putin won the bid in 2007 to hold the games in Sochi, only a very rudimentary roadway connected these two areas. With its $8 billion price tag, the new one is the most expensive Olympic project of all, and Volkov argues that its construction could lead to a series of geological disasters.

“It’s a potentially dangerous area,” said the geologist, writing an open letter to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev from his hiding place in Ukraine. “There have been big landslides in the past and there are large deposits of mercury, uranium and other potentially dangerous minerals. But all scientific advice is being ignored.”

Dr. Volkov also says that he has repeatedly appealed to regional authorities in the Southern Federal District as well as Olympstroy management, but to no avail.

Speaking to the BBC – which notably happened upon an active landslide in the Krasnaya Polyana mountains during its research on this report – Krasnaya Polyana Mayor Sergei Avdeev said that he shared Dr. Volkov’s concerns. “When the International Olympic Committee awarded the games to Russia, they knew full well that Russia did not have enough time to do proper research and build all the facilities in line with international environmental and construction standards,” he said. “I pray to God that there will not be any consequences. The only thing we can do is pray and hope.”

A video report on Dr. Volkov by the BBC can be found by clicking here, and a photo gallery by clicking here.