Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak has held a meeting with a delegation from the International Paralympic Committee's inspection commission.

"Today, the Olympic and Paralympic venues are taking shape," Dmitry Kozak said. "You can see that the construction of the Olympic venues is being carried out according to the schedule set by the International Olympic Committee. Major construction work on the venues for the Sochi 2014 Olympics will be finished by mid 2012, which will give us two testing seasons to prepare for the Sochi Olympic Games."

President of the International Paralympic Committee Sir Philip Craven emphasised that this meeting with Dmitry Kozak was very important for advancing the Paralympic movement in Russia. According to Sir Craven, the Russian government is paying close attention to the prospects of the Paralympic movement and is taking concrete steps to promote it. Sir Craven believes that Russia can be "in the vanguard of the effort to advance the Paralympic movement."