By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : 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 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,” said the decree signed by President Vladimir Putin.
By the same decree, Putin appointed Presidential Executive Office Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov as chairman of the organisational committee on preparation for Russia’s G8 presidency, dismissing Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin from that post.
The G8 consists of Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, Russia, the US, France and Japan.
The next G8 summit will be held in June 2013 in Britain.
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 G20 summit is to take place in the fall of 2013 in Moscow.