MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will hold the 2014 Group of Eight (G8) summit in its southern Black Sea resort of Sochi, the city that will also host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, the Kremlin said on Monday.
“In connection with Russia’s G8 presidency in 2014, I have resolved to make the city of Sochi the venue for the 2014 G8 meeting of the heads of state and government,” the relevant decree signed by President Vladimir Putin said.
By the same decree, Putin appointed Presidential Executive Office Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov as chairman of the organizational committee on preparation for Russia’s G8 presidency, dismissing Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin from this post.
The G8 consists of the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Canada, Russia, the United States, France and Japan. The next G8 summit will be held in June 2013 in the UK.
In December 2012, Russia also took over the presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) of the world’s largest economies. The government allocated $1 million from the federal budget for G20 summit-related events. The summit is to take place in the fall of 2013 in Moscow.
