Remember when Putin told us, “Everything relating to the [Sochi 2014] Olympic project is safeguarded by the budget”? Not so much. Just yesterday, a government re-evaluation of the budget resulted in an $8.6 billion cut. Considering that we got that original quote from Kremlin propaganda dispenser Russia Today, it will be fascinating to see how they wriggle out of this one.

In the meantime, RIA Novosti reports that 12,000 construction jobs will be created to build the Olympic facilities. Cool! Work vacancy! But what of all the pesky people who already live in this quaint resort town? As Lenta reports, the current residents of Sochi's future construction grounds will be allocated about 64 sq. feet per person as temporary living quarters. Something tells us this will be a step down for most of the 552 families in question, 1,806 people total. And although authorities agree on how to ration the temporary floor space, they still have no idea where to find it. Options include buying everyone an apartment or temporarily “storing” the people in nearby resorts. Last we checked, between $3 million and $19 million of the grand Sochi budget has been set aside for the “what the hell do we do with you?” fund. But who knows how much of that survived the $8.6 billion cut. We say, let the bribes and hilarious disparities begin.

Russia cuts 2014 Winter Olympics spending by $8.6 billion [RIA Novosti]
Временным переселенцам в Сочи дадут по шесть квадратных метров жилья [Lenta]

Oh, don't look so innocent. Photo courtesy of davno.ru