Below is the translation of Xxrock’s post from our Russian-language weblog.

The pompously advertised plans to turn Almaty into the Olympic city of dreams are jeopardized. Minister of Tourism and Sports Temirkhan Dosmukhamedov without any ado flew to Qatar and met with the President of Asian Olympics. He offered to move the Games – due to take place in 2011 – from Almaty to Astana.

The history of Olympic Games never knew such a trick [The nominees and winners to host the Olympiads are cities, not countries – and as soon as Almaty was the chosen one, the games are to be held in this particular city]. What is going to happen with the grandiose plans of building the ski-jumps, toboggan tracks and stadiums?

If the fatty Kazakh officials succeed in convincing the Steering Committee to move the Games, all of those plans will, most likely, vanish in history. I wonder, how will they explain that? That nobody wants to build anything in Almaty, except elite housing and trade centers? [It has been recently stated that the reason is actually a PR for the new capital, and the suggestion is to hold the Games in Almaty, Astana and Shuchye, a resort in the central Kazakhstan].

Unfortunately, along came a financial liquidity crisis, which has given a serious blow to the construction industry. In conclusion, the author of these lines sorrowfully sighs, recollecting how much money had been spent for the PR campaign for winning the right to host here the Winter Olympiad, and later – the Asian Olympics.

*additional reporting in [brackets] by Arseny.