REGIONAL POLICY AND SPORT, (Bruxelles, 24.05.2011)
Octavian Morariu, President of the Romanian National Olympic Committee:
THE IMPACT OF
THE EUROPEAN YOUTH OLYMPIC FESTIVAL
ON THE
LOCAL ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
1. Introduction
Distinguished guests, dear friends,
As you already know, Romania is a member of the European Union
since January first, 2007. My country is situated in the Central-Eastern
Europe, practically at the gate of the Orient.
We have a beautiful Eastern opening to the Black Sea and quite a
spectacular central area of the Carpathian Mountains, where we will
organize the 2013 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival (EYOF),
with Brasov as Host City and main action centre. This is the largest
European multisport winter competitionyet and we are proud, thankful
and honored that the EOC granted the organization of the 2013 winter
EYOF to Romania.
2. Short profile of Brasov City & its Upper Prahova Valley
partner cities:
Brasov City:
 Population: 300.000 city residents, plus more than 100.000 in the
surroundings (metropolitan area, including Predeal&Rasnov)
 GDP: aprox. € 4 billion (2008) / 10.000 Euro/person,
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 Local industries: constructions, light and heavy industry (8
industrial parks)
 Services: tourism, transports, IT&C, financial, commerce
 Labor: highly qualified workforce in technical fields and services
(good knowledge of foreign languages)
Upper Prahova Valley partner cities (Azuga, Busteni, Sinaia):
 Total Population: 33.000
 Local industries:food & beverage, forestry, light industry
 Services:mainly tourism and transport related
 Labor:mainly specialized in tourism related services
3. History of EYOF Brasov 2013
 February 2006 – first idea came during the Torino Winter
Olympics,
 June 2006 – first meeting on the subject with the Prime Minister
and local authorities of Brasov and Prahova counties, in Sinaia,
 March 2007 – visit of IOC experts to evaluate the potential,
 September 2007 – submission of the Pre-Candidature File,
 March 2008 – first visit by the EOC-EYOF evaluation commission,
 June 2008 – EOC announcement of Brasov as Candidate City for
the 2013 Winter EYOF,
 July
2008
–
creation
of
the
Candidature
Committee
by
Governmental Decision,
 September 2008 – submission of the Final Candidature File,
 December 2008 – the EOC General Assembly in Istanbul
declared Brasov as the Host City for the 2013 Winter EYOF,
 April 2009 – the Host City Contract was signed in Brasov between
the EOC, the Municipality of Brasov and the Romanian Olympic &
Sports Committee,
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 February 2011 - Government Decision to grant EYOF Brasov the
title of “Project of National Interest”
 March
–
2011
second
visit
of
the
EOC-EYOF
evaluation
commission to all competition venues to see the work progress,
4. Sports Disciplines of EYOF Brasov 2013
(as in the Final Candidature File)

Biathlon M+W

Ice Hockey

Figure Skating M+W

Short-Track M+W

Alpine Skiing M+W

Cross-Country Skiing M+W

Ski Jumping M+W

Snowboard M+W
On the occasion of its last visit, in March this year, the EOC-EYOF
evaluation commission agreed upon the possibility of adding the Nordic
Combined to the Sports Program of the competition.
5. Competition Infrastructure
Existing
venues
–running
modernizationprojects, in
order to
be
homologated by the ISF and IBU:
 Predeal:
o ValeaRasnoavei– (Biathlon Centre) 5.6 mil Euro project to
be finalized by September 2011
o Sub Teleferic Slope (Alpine Skiing, Super G) 1.4 mil euro
project to be finalized by September 2011
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 Azuga:
o Sorica Slope (Alpine Skiing, Giant Slalom) 3 mil. Euro
project to be finalized by August 2011
 Sinaia: joint project of 11.6 mil Euro to be finalized by August 2012
o ValeaDorului Slope (Alpine Skiing, Special Slalom)
o Valealui Karp Slope (Snowboard)
New venues:
 Brasov City:
o Olympic Ice Rink – 9 mil. Euro project, finalized and
functional since February 2010 (Ice Hockey)
o Sports Centre IceRink – 6 mil. Euro project, to be finalized
by November 2012 (Figure Skating and Short Track)
 Rasnov – ValeaCarbunarii:
o Cross-Country/Biathlon Track – 1.2 mil Euro project, finalized
and functional since September 2010
o Ski Jumping Centre – 15 mil. Euro project, to be finalized by
July 2012
 Busteni:
o ValeaCerbului Cross Country Track – 3.5 mil. Euro project to
be finalized by December 2012
6. Investment value
 New venues:
34.7 mil. Euro
 Upgrading of existing venues:
21.6 mil. Euro
 Total:
56.3 mil. Euro
7. Sources of Financial Means
 Government &Local budgets:
31.8 mil. Euro
 Public-private partnerships:
18.5 mil. Euro
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 European projects:
6.0 mil. Euro
o Sinaia City Hall applied for Structural Funds to build the
artificial snow system of its EYOF envisaged competition
sites. The application is for 100% European financing and it
is currently at the Prahova-Brasov National Development
Agency, the local management authority.
8. Construction timetable – as seen on the screen
Coordination & communication are pillars of the success of the project
and they are needed on a permanent basis.
9. Human Resources
 Investment projects works: 1200 jobs approx. over 3 years,
 Running and Maintenance: 147 jobs permanently after completion.
10. EYOF Brasov 2013 Organizing Committee
 Human Resources: 32 jobs on the job chart
 Volunteers: 350 on various fields of activity
11. The Legacy and Conclusions
5 out of 15existing snow venues in the area will be modernized to meet
the international competition standards. 3 new venues will increase this
number, respectively the 2 cross-country tracks in Busteni and Rasnov
and the Ski Jumping Centre in Rasnov as well.
At the end of the project the overall length of the functional ski slopes
will increase with 10.2km andthe cable transport capacity will increase
by 36%, to speak only about the snow sports infrastructure.
2 new ice rinks at Olympic standards, of which one is already functional,
will add to the existing capacity of the ice sports infrastructure. Before
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the start of the EYOF Brasov 2013 project, only 3 were functional in the
whole area.
The whole investment project was meant from the start to improve the
overall quantity and quality of the winter sports offer of the region, both
to the sports organizationsand the general public, leading tofurther
development of both sports and tourism, together with a boost of the
related services and economic activities. This growth would generate an
estimate
increase
of
general
income
approximately
by
15%.Consequently, the taxeson this income would be used for the
further development of the local communities.
According to the National Tour Operators Association, since Romania
became EU member, an average of 250.000 Romanians chose to spend
their winter vacations out of the country, most of them preferring the
well-known
European
winter
sports
destinations,
spending
approximately 400 million euro. The idea is to gradually bring half of this
spending in Brasov and the Upper Prahova Valley.
In the last 4 years, the average yearly number of tourists spending their
winter vacations, in Brasov and the Upper Prahova Valley resorts, was
1.3 millionand it is expected to risein the next 4 by 15% andinclude a
number of those who usually leave the country on this purpose.
Another important aspect isrelated to the international media exposure
of the competition. It is most likely that this would raise the awareness
and attraction of theregion for the foreign winter sports amateurs,
leading to a further estimated growth of the demand in tourism.
The average profit growth in tourism and services in the region is
estimated as well at 15% in the following years, due to the renewal and
modernization of the sports infrastructure, which leads to the expansion
of the white season period.
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