Putin's Games

:00:00. > :00:12.President Putin wants the Winter Olympics to showcase modern Russia.

:00:13. > :00:14.We pledge to make the stay of Olympians, journalists, guests in

:00:15. > :00:20.Sochi a safe, enjoyable and memorable experience.

:00:21. > :00:31.But what do the Sochi Games really tell us about Putin's Russia?

:00:32. > :00:35.I'm afraid the Olympics are happening, so we have a right to

:00:36. > :00:37.film and broadcast what is happening.

:00:38. > :00:43.We find an Olympics where workers have been cheated and terrorised.

:00:44. > :00:46.TRANSLATION: They must have heard my screams from the street.

:00:47. > :00:50.Where half of the Games' $50 billion budget may have been stolen.

:00:51. > :00:52.It's a great example of Putin corruption.

:00:53. > :00:58.And where whistle-blowers are threatened with execution.

:00:59. > :01:03.In Russian they said... HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN. That means, you will be

:01:04. > :01:07.drowned in blood. With days to go until the Olympics

:01:08. > :01:31.begin, I'm in Russia to investigate the truth about Putin's Games.

:01:32. > :01:43.Welcome to Sochi. Welcome to the Winter Olympics.

:01:44. > :01:49.It's a spectacular sporting event that will enthral viewers around the

:01:50. > :01:56.world. The authorities here say millions of Russians are united by

:01:57. > :01:57.the Olympic dream. But here in Vladimir Putin's Russia, nothing is

:01:58. > :02:15.quite what it seems. Forget the millions of Russians.

:02:16. > :02:18.These Games are really the pet project of just one man, the

:02:19. > :02:22.President. Vladimir Putin loves Sochi. It's where he holidays and

:02:23. > :02:27.entertains world leaders by the Black Sea. Winning the Games for

:02:28. > :02:34.Sochi wasn't just business, it was personal. It is a great honour for

:02:35. > :02:39.me to address you today and to present the bid of Sochi to host the

:02:40. > :02:43.Olympic Winter Games 2014. Putin hopes that the Games will project

:02:44. > :02:45.Russia's image as a great power. The Olympic torch has gone to the Arctic

:02:46. > :03:00.and up in a rocket. And they're currently 261 miles

:03:01. > :03:03.above the earth. But not everyone is happy about the Olympics. Meet the

:03:04. > :03:05.Games' number-one critic, Boris Nemtsov, Russia's former Deputy

:03:06. > :03:09.Prime Minister and now a high-profile opposition politician.

:03:10. > :03:25.He ran for Mayor of Sochi, but lost. In Russia, politics can be rough,

:03:26. > :03:28.and over the years, Boris' campaigning has angered the police,

:03:29. > :03:36.and other politicians. That's Boris on the right. Now, he's questioning

:03:37. > :03:40.the soaring cost of the Games. Putin said the cost will be about 12

:03:41. > :03:43.billion, right? Putin spent more than $50 billion, which is huge

:03:44. > :03:49.money, which is the most expensive for Olympics.

:03:50. > :03:52.$50 billion is 30 billion quid. That's 25 times the cost of the

:03:53. > :03:58.previous Winter Games in Vancouver, and far more than any Summer

:03:59. > :04:03.Olympics too. Boris says that's partly because they're in the wrong

:04:04. > :04:07.place. Well, the problem is that there are

:04:08. > :04:10.two parts of Sochi, one is in the mountain. But most games will be

:04:11. > :04:12.organised not in the mountain but in the subtropical area in the

:04:13. > :04:23.embankment of the Black Sea. They've built this new resort in the

:04:24. > :04:26.mountains. But most of the venues are on the coast, where it's warm

:04:27. > :04:30.enough for palm trees. Putting ice rinks in the subtropics has helped

:04:31. > :04:37.Sochi become the most expensive Olympics ever. It's as if no-one in

:04:38. > :04:44.the Kremlin dare say, Mr Putin, are you sure about this? It's also in

:04:45. > :04:47.the most volatile part of Russia, close to its troubled Muslim

:04:48. > :04:53.republics such as Chechnya and Dagestan. Four weeks ago, suicide

:04:54. > :04:59.bombers killed 34 people in the southern city of Volgograd.

:05:00. > :05:07.A Jihadi terrorist leader has ordered his followers to attack the

:05:08. > :05:11.Games. They should put maximum effort in

:05:12. > :05:14.the ways of Allah to prevent these Satanic dances on the bones of our

:05:15. > :05:20.land and the bones of our ancestors. TRANSLATION:

:05:21. > :05:26.Now, a police poster in Sochi names seven women who may launch suicide

:05:27. > :05:28.attacks. UK officials say more attacks in Russia are very likely in

:05:29. > :05:40.the run-up to the Games. For many years, Putin has cultivated

:05:41. > :05:43.his image as a strong man. On his watch, the economy has grown, and

:05:44. > :05:53.many Russians feel their country is stronger and more stable. Putin's

:05:54. > :06:05.response to the bombers was blunt. TRANSLATION:

:06:06. > :06:10.But are the police using security to stop journalists from reporting on

:06:11. > :06:13.Olympic problems? We're going to a village which, we've been told, has

:06:14. > :06:17.been very badly affected by the Olympics. The other day, we sent our

:06:18. > :06:21.researcher along there, and she was stopped and ordered to go back by

:06:22. > :06:27.armed soldiers. So, we're going to have a go and see if we can get

:06:28. > :06:32.there. We want to meet the villagers. But

:06:33. > :06:50.the FSB, what used to be known as the KGB, have other ideas.

:06:51. > :07:01.To Akhshtyr. Talk to people, film... I'm afraid the Olympics are

:07:02. > :07:04.happening, so we have the right to film and broadcast what's happening.

:07:05. > :07:12.The FSB aren't happy with our paperwork.

:07:13. > :07:17.Can we all get out of the car? He can't see us through the... Right,

:07:18. > :07:21.OK, let's do that, yeah? President Putin has said journalists are

:07:22. > :07:25.welcome to the Sochi Olympics, so we want to go up there and talk to the

:07:26. > :07:27.local people on the other side of the village.

:07:28. > :07:31.This checkpoint is new. It's only been here a few weeks. The FSB take

:07:32. > :07:33.our passports and say we can't go any further into the village. But

:07:34. > :07:52.the locals manage to find us. Villagers are upset about a new

:07:53. > :08:16.quarry that provided stone for Olympic construction.

:08:17. > :08:21.The quarry is owned by Russian Railways, which is run by Vladimir

:08:22. > :08:36.Yakunin, said to be a close chum of Mr Putin.

:08:37. > :08:42.Russian Railways says it paid for piped water to be brought to the

:08:43. > :08:48.village for the first time. It also built this water pump three years

:08:49. > :08:53.ago. There's only one problem. It doesn't work. The company says the

:08:54. > :08:59.Sochi authorities are responsible. Water is now being brought in by

:09:00. > :09:04.tanker. Overlooking the Olympic Park, other residents have been

:09:05. > :09:11.badly affected by the Games too. Please don't adjust your set, these

:09:12. > :09:13.houses really are at a crazy angle. But Tatiana Skiba and her family

:09:14. > :09:31.still live here. She's absolutely right, it feels

:09:32. > :09:37.like... It's making me seasick just to be in this.

:09:38. > :09:40.The damage was caused by a landslip, and the family blame that on

:09:41. > :09:45.contractors illegally dumping Olympic waste on the hillside above

:09:46. > :10:05.their house. The Sochi authorities deny this.

:10:06. > :10:11.Since Putin came to power, the Russian economy has grown tenfold.

:10:12. > :10:19.In 2000, there were no billionaires in Russia. Now, there are more than

:10:20. > :10:24.100. But critics say the system is stacked against ordinary people.

:10:25. > :10:29.Putin's man in Sochi is Anatoly Pakhomov. The Mayor says many

:10:30. > :10:38.problems will be sorted out after the Games, but not all claims are

:10:39. > :10:42.genuine. TRANSLATION: Just like in any of

:10:43. > :10:46.your cities, you can find in our town a building which isn't so good.

:10:47. > :10:49.The owner of that building will tell you that its poor condition has been

:10:50. > :10:51.caused by preparations for the Olympic Games.

:10:52. > :10:55.He's met the residents at the village where we were stopped by the

:10:56. > :11:02.FSB and says the problems are being resolved. The Olympic billions have

:11:03. > :11:06.transformed Sochi. Tens of thousands of workers have built roads, a new

:11:07. > :11:11.railway, hotels and the gleaming new sports facilities.

:11:12. > :11:22.But many workers haven't been paid for months. TRANSLATION: Thousands

:11:23. > :11:25.of workers have been cheated in Sochi, that's more than half of the

:11:26. > :11:29.workers who have worked on Olympic sites. It's hard for me to say how

:11:30. > :11:32.much they are owed. I think tens of millions of roubles.

:11:33. > :11:36.In Russia, it's a crime to cheat people out of their wages. This

:11:37. > :11:42.worker only got paid after he sewed his lips together in protest. And

:11:43. > :11:44.when Mardiros Demerchan complained, he says the police arrested him on a

:11:45. > :11:57.trumped-up charge. TRANSLATION: They started to beat

:11:58. > :12:01.me, one from one side and one from the other. I fell like that to the

:12:02. > :12:04.floor, and I started losing consciousness, and they hauled me

:12:05. > :12:07.back up and sat me on the chair. One of them said, have you had enough or

:12:08. > :12:17.do we have to beat you some more? He says the police then sexually

:12:18. > :12:22.assaulted him, injuring him so badly he can no longer work or even lift

:12:23. > :12:29.up his son. He's now trying to bring charges against the police. They are

:12:30. > :12:32.suing him for libel. The Mayor denies there has been any brutality

:12:33. > :12:34.and says workers who don't get paid can take their case directly to city

:12:35. > :12:46.hall. TRANSLATION: When we've been

:12:47. > :12:49.approached, the prosecutor took action and the workers were paid

:12:50. > :12:51.their salaries. Semyon filed a complaint to the

:12:52. > :12:58.prosecutor about workers being cheated. The very next day, the

:12:59. > :12:59.authorities raided his office. He was later called in for questioning

:13:00. > :13:12.by Putin's political police. TRANSLATION: The head of that

:13:13. > :13:13.department told me they are not pleased, and if I continue doing

:13:14. > :13:23.this, I might face problems. In the run-up to the Games, Putin

:13:24. > :13:26.tried to improve his country's image. He released 2,000 prisoners,

:13:27. > :13:34.including former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the feminist punk

:13:35. > :13:38.band Pussy Riot. They were jailed after a protest in a cathedral. Now,

:13:39. > :13:58.they're calling for an Olympic boycott.

:13:59. > :14:02.In Sochi, ordinary people are still facing jail for speaking out.

:14:03. > :14:04.Conservationist Yevgeny Vitishko was arrested after protesting about

:14:05. > :14:17.environmental damage. TRANSLATION: The impact of these

:14:18. > :14:21.Olympic Games will be felt by the country for years to come. Most of

:14:22. > :14:23.the buildings that have been constructed are on what used to be

:14:24. > :14:33.Sochi National Park. The organisers told us they've

:14:34. > :14:37.planted one and a half million trees, and after the Games, 20,000

:14:38. > :14:42.hectares will be added to the National Park. But it's hard to see

:14:43. > :14:45.how all this building in the mountains is good for the

:14:46. > :14:52.environment. And Putin himself may be part of the problem. The word on

:14:53. > :14:54.the piste is that somewhere up in the mountains, there's a secret

:14:55. > :15:10.base. Its name? Moonglade. Officially, it's a scientific

:15:11. > :15:19.research station. But campaigners say it's yet another luxury home for

:15:20. > :15:23.the President. TRANSLATION: Putin decided to build

:15:24. > :15:26.himself a country house there. This holiday-home fever is something that

:15:27. > :15:28.really must be fought. That's what we're doing, and why the court found

:15:29. > :15:32.us guilty. Yevgeny has now been sentenced to

:15:33. > :15:36.three years for spraying graffiti on a fence, a crime he says he didn't

:15:37. > :15:47.commit. And he's not the only person who says he's been arrested for

:15:48. > :15:50.doing his job. If there was something like Panorama

:15:51. > :15:54.in Russia, freelance TV reporter Nicolai Yarst would work for it.

:15:55. > :16:10.Instead, this is what happened to him.

:16:11. > :16:15.Nikolai says the drugs, synthetic cannabis, were planted by the

:16:16. > :16:23.police. This was a set-up to stop him investigating corruption and to

:16:24. > :16:29.intimidate other journalists. TRANSLATION: Lots of people are

:16:30. > :16:32.frightened to write about the other side of the Olympics. I was rung

:16:33. > :16:40.several times by people who wanted to tell me about what was happening

:16:41. > :16:43.on the Olympic construction sites. He was locked up, then held under

:16:44. > :16:47.house arrest for six months. But tests showed there were no drugs in

:16:48. > :16:52.his system and the prosecutor now says there's insufficient evidence

:16:53. > :16:55.against him. Do you think that what happened to

:16:56. > :17:01.you is in part related to your work on Olympic corruption? TRANSLATION:

:17:02. > :17:07.Unfortunately everything here is linked to the Olympics. In one sense

:17:08. > :17:15.Nikolai was lucky. 25 journalists have been killed in Russia since

:17:16. > :17:18.Putin came to power 14 years ago. For an Olympic village, you need

:17:19. > :17:23.electricity. But in Sochi, there's not enough power to go around. In

:17:24. > :17:30.2012, we're told, there were a thousand power cuts. And the problem

:17:31. > :17:33.hasn't gone away. The reason I'm holding a candle in our hotel is

:17:34. > :17:39.because there's been a power cut and reception says it's because of the

:17:40. > :17:43.Olympic Games. Officially, there's no problem with the power supply.

:17:44. > :17:49.But remember, nothing in Putin's Russia is quite what it seems. It's

:17:50. > :17:57.a big question for some Olympians and Paralympians as to how they'll

:17:58. > :18:01.be treated in Russia. And to find out more, we're going to a place

:18:02. > :18:28.with no name and no sign above the door. The reason? It's a gay bar.

:18:29. > :18:33.In June, Russia passed a law banning the promotion of "non-traditional"

:18:34. > :18:40.sexuality to minors - widely seen as an attack on gay rights. Most people

:18:41. > :18:42.here don't want to be filmed. Those that do are cautious about what they

:18:43. > :19:05.say. Since the law was passed, gay rights

:19:06. > :19:08.protesters have had a hard time. Not least from the police. Gay Olympians

:19:09. > :19:14.and visitors are worried about how they'll be treated. The Sochi

:19:15. > :19:17.organising committee told us it's working hard to ensure the Games

:19:18. > :19:25.will be remembered for their diversity. So how does the Mayor

:19:26. > :19:33.feel about gay people in Sochi? Do gay people have to hide their

:19:34. > :19:37.sexuality when they're in your town? TRANSLATION: No, we just say that it

:19:38. > :19:41.is your business, it's your life, but it's not accepted here in the

:19:42. > :19:51.Caucuses where we live. We do not have them in our town. You don't

:19:52. > :19:56.have them in the town. Are you sure? I am not sure, I don't bloody know

:19:57. > :20:01.them. I went to a gay bar last night. Will gay people be welcome to

:20:02. > :20:05.the Sochi Olympics? Our hospitality will be extended to everyone who

:20:06. > :20:09.respects the laws of the Russian Federation and doesn't impose their

:20:10. > :20:20.habits and their will on others. But, yes, everyone is welcome.

:20:21. > :20:39.The Mayor told me there were no gays in Sochi. No gays? No homosexuals.

:20:40. > :20:42.HE LAUGHS As far as I know there are several gay clubs in Sochi.

:20:43. > :20:50.How they survive, why they are not bankrupt?

:20:51. > :20:54.Another grave charge levelled against these Olympics is that they

:20:55. > :20:56.are the most corrupt in history. Nemtsov has compared Sochi contracts

:20:57. > :20:59.with previous Games. For example, Sochi Olympics with Vancouver, with

:21:00. > :21:09.Salt Lake City, with London, and that's why I estimate how they, how

:21:10. > :21:11.much money they steal. Nemtsov and other opposition figures estimate

:21:12. > :21:15.that 25 billion dollars - that's half the budget - has been trousered

:21:16. > :21:19.by the wrong people. And they're not the only ones who say the Games are

:21:20. > :21:22.corrupt. Valery Morozov used to be a favourite Kremlin contractor. Now?

:21:23. > :21:25.He's in hiding in Surrey. He says officials asked him for huge

:21:26. > :21:32.kickbacks on Olympic building projects. It is very difficult for

:21:33. > :21:36.foreigners to understand this system. Say for example you start a

:21:37. > :21:40.business, you're opening a shop in London, and then somebody comes and

:21:41. > :21:44.says "now you are paying 30% of the revenue of your shop to me". Because

:21:45. > :21:47.he comes from the authorities of London Mayor. He says, "Either I

:21:48. > :21:56.close down the shop or restaurant or you pay 30%." You have no choice.

:21:57. > :21:58.Yes. Leshchevsky has been named in

:21:59. > :22:15.connection with alleged corruption in at least three newspaper

:22:16. > :22:18.articles. Vladymyr Leshchevsky asked him for millions of pounds of

:22:19. > :22:23.kickbacks. He started paying, but eventually went to the police, and

:22:24. > :22:28.they set up a sting. So you wore a wire? Yes. And you

:22:29. > :22:34.handed over ?100,000 in roubles? Yes. Who did you hand that over

:22:35. > :22:38.money to? To Leshchevsky. But the police destroyed the tapes and the

:22:39. > :22:39.case was later dropped for lack of evidence. Vladymyr Leshchevsky

:22:40. > :22:43.strongly denies these allegations. Morozov also says that his wife was

:22:44. > :23:05.threatened by another corrupt official. In Russian they said: You

:23:06. > :23:09.will be drowned in blood. You will be washed with blood.

:23:10. > :23:13.Later, he discovered there was a contract out on his life. He's been

:23:14. > :23:15.given asylum in Britain. So, corruption, cronyism, mismanagement

:23:16. > :23:18.- how strong is the evidence? To find out, I'm taking an Olympic

:23:19. > :23:21.tour. First stop, downtown Sochi. This is the headquarters of

:23:22. > :23:23.Olympstroy, the Olympic delivery agency, responsible for a

:23:24. > :23:26.multi-billion pound budget. But it's been dogged by controversy. Thus

:23:27. > :23:30.far, it's lost three bosses and there have been multiple allegations

:23:31. > :23:34.of corruption. Six fraud investigations were launched against

:23:35. > :23:40.senior Olympstroy officials. But then something odd happened to the

:23:41. > :23:45.cases. All of them disappeared. All of them disappeared. Putin wants to

:23:46. > :23:48.show the world that this is the most transparent, most honest, but -

:23:49. > :23:51.nobody knows why - most expensive Olympic Games, without any criminal

:23:52. > :24:01.cases with very clean rules, with very transparent rules, etc. Three

:24:02. > :24:08.heads of Olympstroy have been sacked for corruption, correct? No, this is

:24:09. > :24:12.not true. The three bosses resigned of their own free will. They simply

:24:13. > :24:20.miscalculated their strengths including their physical health.

:24:21. > :24:31.Next stop, the mountains. Behind me, the Sochi ski jump -

:24:32. > :24:33.possibly the most mismanaged Olympic project ever - and there's some

:24:34. > :24:47.serious competition for that title. It was finished two years late

:24:48. > :24:51.because of problems with landslides. The cost increased seven-fold. The

:24:52. > :24:59.boss was sacked and later accused of corruption on another project.

:25:00. > :25:05.But the most expensive of all is not a ski jump or bobsleigh track, it's

:25:06. > :25:18.this new Olympic road and railway, linking Sochi with the mountains. It

:25:19. > :25:22.cost $8 billion. One sceptic said at that price it would have been

:25:23. > :25:28.cheaper to pave the road with Louis Vuitton handbags. It was built by

:25:29. > :25:33.Russian Railways, the company run by Putin's friend Vladimir Yakunin. It

:25:34. > :25:38.says the cost is comparable to similar transport projects

:25:39. > :25:43.elsewhere. But he's not the only friend of the President accused of

:25:44. > :25:49.cronyism. Businesses connected to Arkady and Boris Rotenberg were

:25:50. > :25:54.given contracts worth $7 billion. They've reportedly known Putin since

:25:55. > :26:01.childhood. The Rotenbergs and Yakunin declined to comment. The

:26:02. > :26:03.President says the cost of the Games has increased because of the

:26:04. > :26:18.difficulties of building in the mountains.

:26:19. > :26:23.Others disagree. One International Olympic Committee member, Gian

:26:24. > :26:25.Franco Kasper, says a third of Sochi spending disappeared because of

:26:26. > :26:31.corruption, and contracts went to a construction mafia of businessmen

:26:32. > :26:34.closely linked to Putin. Critics say the truth about Olympic costs and

:26:35. > :26:42.corruption will only come out when Putin leaves the Kremlin. I think

:26:43. > :26:53.that in the future we will of course investigate what's happened.

:26:54. > :26:56.Unfortunately in Putin Russia, there is no independent court at all, and

:26:57. > :26:58.there is no real investigation and criminal investigation against

:26:59. > :27:02.criminals. But the Winter Olympics aren't the only big sporting event

:27:03. > :27:07.Russia is hosting. 2018 FIFA World Cup, ladies and gentlemen, will be

:27:08. > :27:10.organised in Russia. Not that we're bitter, mind. Russia has promised

:27:11. > :27:16.world-class football stadiums in 11 cities for the 2018 World Cup. I

:27:17. > :27:23.just can promise, we all can promise, you will never regret. Let

:27:24. > :27:29.us make history together. Do you think the same problems will happen

:27:30. > :27:32.for the World Cup? How can these two events be any different? It's the

:27:33. > :27:40.same people, the same management set-up. Nothing will change, and it

:27:41. > :27:42.will all be the same. Putin is gambling billions that hosting

:27:43. > :27:48.global sporting events will restore pride to Russia. But with the Games

:27:49. > :27:54.just days away, not a single Western leader has said they'll attend. And

:27:55. > :28:01.most of the people we've met in Sochi aren't buying it at all.

:28:02. > :28:04.There's little doubt that the Sochi Olympics will be full of sporting

:28:05. > :28:09.triumphs, enjoyed by millions of people around the world. And the

:28:10. > :28:13.Kremlin will claim the credit. But the run up to these Games reveals

:28:14. > :28:19.something else too - the dark heart of Vladimir Putin's Russia. And when

:28:20. > :28:22.the Olympic circus leaves town, the ordinary people of Sochi will be

:28:23. > :28:32.left paying the price of Putin's Games.

:28:33. > :28:35.Next week: Panorama is inside North Korea with unique access to a

:28:36. > :28:37.western funded university designed to open the minds of the secretive

:28:38. > :28:43.state's future elite.