The expanded meeting of the board of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sport of the RT was held in Kazan

(KZN.RU, February 1, Anton Nozdrin). Kazan, Tatarstan are able to adequately carry out the activities of the highest level, including the Olympic Games. Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of Tatarstan, expressed this opinion today at the expanded meeting of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sport of the RT.

Pavel Kolobkov, the Russian Minister of Sport, Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, Renat Timerzyanov, the Chief Federal Inspector in the RT, Yulia Ismagilova, the Advisor to the Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, Elena Vyalbe, the president of the Federation of Russian ski races, and others participated in the meeting, which was held in the Volga Region State Academy of Sport and Tourism (VRSAST).

During the meeting participants summed up the work of the department in 2016 and outlined plans for the current 2017year. Vladimir Leonov, the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport of the RT, noted that Tatarstan took second place in the ranking, formed by the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation in the category “Regions of Russia”, and the newspaper “Soviet Sport” acknowledged the RT as the best region for the implementation of mass sports.

“Currently, Tatarstan is one of the country's leading public involvement in sport and physical activity with the number of 41.5%, and 79% - among students, 12% - among people with disabilities”, reported Vladimir Leonov. According to him, over 800 sporting events were held last year in the republic, 41 of which are of the national and international levels.

Over the past three years, 36 children's health camps, 55 youth clubs were repaired, 22 new youth institutions were opened thanks to the implementation of national programs. The speaker noted that the implementation of these programs will continue in the current year, the modernization of another 29 youth clubs and 10 children's health camps is planned. Construction of sports infrastructure continues. 517 such sites have been introduced over last year in Tatarstan. “There are 10.5 thousand sports facilities in the republic, the growth of this indicator was 19% since 2008”, reported Vladimir Leonov.

“A powerful impetus to the development of mass sports in the community was a national program for the construction of universal sports grounds”, the minister said. According to him, 671 areas were built in Tatarstan for 3 years. “This is a record number. None of the regions can boast of so many”, said V. Leonov. It is planned to build another 100 such sites, 20 hockey boxes with artificial surface and bleachers for 100 people and 11 ski centers in 2017. “We will build 10 ski centers to these objects this year thanks to the support and initiative of the Federation of ski races”, he said.

The work on public involvement in sports, the modernization of sports reserve, the future development of the modern sport of adaptive systems will continue, marked Vladimir Leonov. In addition, attention will be paid to the improvement of medical maintenance of sports infrastructure.

The minister reminded that a number of important and interesting events will take place this year in Tatarstan, in particular, matches of the Confederations Cup, and the World Cup in football, sport martial arts, synchronized swimming competition, diving and others are scheduled to take place.

Vasily Mosin, an Honored Master of Sports of Russia, bronze medalist in shooting, spoke at the meeting and proposed the creation of a professional Olympians club of the RT.

Pavel Kolobkov, the Russian Minister of Sport, noted in his speech that Tatarstan today sets the highest standards in the sport not only for Russia but also for the whole world. “The Russian Ministry of Sport will hold a final meeting in March, but I can tell you even now that most of the indicators, identified in our strategic documents, have been already carried out in Tatarstan”, he emphasized. P. Kolobkov noted that most republican projects can be an example for the country. At the end, the Minister wished the Tatarstan athletes to win the maximum number of Olympic medals in the upcoming games. “You deserve it”, concluded P. Kolobkov.

“We went through a lot of work and create a powerful sports center of our country”, said R. Minnikhanov, summing up. The Tatarstan President noted that it is impossible to maintain the status of Russian sports capital without major international competitions. “We must make maximum use of the sports facilities and infrastructure potential. We have a decent team, which can to solve any problems. Kazan, Tatarstan are able to hold any event, I have no doubt. Can Kazan hold the Olympic Games? Easily. No problem”, concluded R. Minnikhanov.