One of the most staggering figures in the already controversial cost of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics is that of a brand-new road between the town of Adler and the mountainous Krasnaya Polyana: $8 billion in all. For comparison, the total amount of money spent on the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was $1.5 billion.

Plans for the Sochi games have been criticized by environmental activists, scientists, human rights advocates, and other experts for a host of problems that ranges from unpaid and abused construction workers to irreparable damage to Sochi’s unique natural environment. Dr. Sergei Volkov, who fled Russia out of fear of persecution, has voiced concerns particularly about the road in question. “It’s a potentially dangerous area,” he said. “There have been big landslides in the past and there are large deposits of mercury, uranium and other potentially dangerous minerals. But all scientific advice is being ignored.”

While any potential geological disasters are still, thankfully, only theoretical, the money being spent on the Alder-Krasnaya Polyana road is quite tangible. Aside from the fact that the project requires a great deal of intensive construction work – boring through large chunks of mountain, for example – much of the cost is suspected to be eaten up by inefficiency and corruption. To illustrate the absurdity of such a high cost – whatever its reasons may be – the Russian imprint of Esquire magazine has calculated the amount of caviar, foie gras, or mink coats that could be bought for the same sum of money – and how thick the Olympic road would turn out if it was built from the purchased goods.

All images copyright Esquire Magazine. The original article in Russian is available by clicking here.



Oysters……………………………………………………….6.37 cm

Based on the price of oysters in a standard Moscow restaurant ($4 a piece).



Black caviar……………………………………………………1.1 cm

Based on the wholesale price of a 30 gram can of beluga caviar ($42).



Ground-up Louis Vuitton handbags………………………….9 cm

Based on the price of the ‘Knightsbridge’ Louis Vuitton handbag ($1,372).



Foie gras……………………………………………………21.90 cm

Based on the price of foie gras in the French supermarket Carrefour ($88 per kilogram).



US Dollars………………………………………………….0.028 cm

Based on $100 banknotes (each being 0.014 cm thick).



Fur coats………………………………………………………4.7 cm

Based on the Moscow price of a mink coat 90 cm in length ($4,900).



Truffles……………………………………………………………6 cm

Based on the mid-range seasonal price for a kilogram of black truffles ($1,300).



Hennessey Cognac……………………………………..13.85 cm

Based on the Moscow price of one liter of Hennessey VSOP ($111).