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Sochi, Russia - host city of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games

SOCHI, Russia - While Moscow digs itself out of a huge snow storm that hit the Russian capital in the last few days, organizers of the Winter Olympics are worried a lack of white powder could become a problem next February.

Unseasonably warm temperatures this winter in Sochi have forced local organizers to store some 450,000 cubic meters of snow in the nearby Caucasus Mountains that surround this sub-tropical Black Sea resort.

"We've prepared seven separate areas for snow storage high up in the mountains," Sergei Bachin, general director of Roza Khutor, a ski resort in Krasnaya Polyana that will host Alpine skiing, snowboarding and freestyle Olympic competition, told Reuters.

"I want to assure all the competitors that there won't be any shortage of snow next February even if we encounter even warmer temperatures next year," he said.

"We're storing such huge amounts of snow just in case."

The snow will be covered with a "special thermo seal", to protect it from melting during the summer, Bachin said.

"We expect that about 140,000 (cubic meters) will melt away but we'll still have more than 300,000 cubic meters of snow available for next year," he predicted, saying the storage will cost his company an extra $11 million.

Nevertheless, Sochi 2014 chief Dmitry Chernyshenko has stated on several occasions that the weather has become a bigger problem for the organizers, who are frantically trying to finish all the construction projects on time, than security or the infrastructure.

Slideshow: Sochi 2014

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The Winter Olympics arrive in Sochi on Feb. 7, 2014. A look at how the Russian city is shaping up for its moment in the spotlight.

Launch slideshow

Bachin, however, assured that Krasnaya Polyana, once a sleepy mountain village, about 70 kilometers from central Sochi, would be ready to host all the outdoor Olympic events next February rain or shine.

"Of the 76 Olympic test events scheduled in Krasnaya Polyana this winter a great majority had been completed and only a handful have been called off because of bad weather," he said.

"I think we've passed the test as the last major event of the season was held this weekend in nearby Laura complex."

Usually, Krasnaya Polyana has the opposite problem - too much snow and the risk of avalanches, Bachin said.

"This was a very odd winter. Even locals don't remember when was the last time they had such warm days in the mountains. It's highly unlikely we'll see the same kind of weather next year," he added.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images

Workers cordon off a leaning building in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday. The three-story apartment building under construction began leaning yesterday after a tunnel being built for the 2014 Winter Olympics collapsed nearby, local media said. There were no casualties reported. With the Olympics less than a year away, construction is transforming Sochi.

Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images

 Previously on PhotoBlog:

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Slideshow: Sochi 2014

Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images

The Winter Olympics arrive in Sochi on Feb. 7, 2014. A look at how the Russian city is shaping up for its moment in the spotlight.

Launch slideshow

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News analysis

SOCHI, Russia -- Let's get one thing straight: The town that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics is a summer resort.

At 1 p.m. on Thursday -- one year to the day from the Opening Ceremony -- the temperature was 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Miami-style high-rise condos dot rich green groves of palm and cypress trees. This is Sochi, better known as the "Black Sea Pearl."

That's a testament to two things: The kind of clout Russian President Valdimir Putin has, at least with those eminent International Olympic Committee members; and the laser-like determination he's shown to make his dream come true -- to transform Sochi from a long-in-the-tooth former Soviet spa resort into an all-season, international sports playground.

Putin even flew to the 2007 IOC summit in Guatemala to explain – amazingly, in both English and French, languages he doesn't actually speak – what Sochi had to offer.

Not just vast expanses of balmy beaches, but only 30 miles to the east, majestic, untapped mountain ranges called The Caucasus.

Mikhail Klimentyev / Presidential Press Service - Ria Novosti via AFP - Getty Images, file

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks with regional Governor Alexander Tkachev during a visit to a mountain resort near 2014 Olympic host Sochi this week.

And to top it off, he offered to put up $12 billion to build his Olympic Wonderland – including a high-speed train system that would get thousands of spectators from the ice palaces below to the alpine resorts above in just 25 minutes. Blue sea meets snow-white mountains. Done deal.

But it soon became apparent that Putin's dream wasn't just about hosting the Olympic Games. He also wanted to showcase a new, modern Russia – no matter how questionable that image may be - led by a man who demanded the world's attention.

"He needed some bold proof that he can do something very important for Russia," said Fyodor Lukyanov, managing editor of Russia in Global Affairs. "The Olympic Games in this regard is a good opportunity to turn attention away from the lack of development in Russia to a big international success.''

The dream began to look like the genie out of the bottle. Even $12 billion – more than twice the total cost of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games – did not even cover the bills for the two Olympic parks, the skate and ski venues, and the road and rail lines linking the two.

Remember, Sochi had only one main road and no winter resort. About 85 percent of Putin's dream needed to be built from scratch.

One year from the start of the Games, the total cost has hit $51 billion, a new Olympic record. Half of that total is coming from the state's coffers, and the rest from Putin's rich oligarch friends.

Gazprom, the state-owned corporation Putin runs like a CEO, has even built many of the ski venues. One can see Gazprom's logo everywhere in the Olympic space in Sochi.

Billboards for Putin's other "pillar," the state-owned oil giant Rosneft, are spread around the Olympic parks and a luxurious mountain resort built entirely by Interros, the holding company owned by Putin's close oligarch friend, Vladimir Potanin.

Ivan Sekretarev / Pool via Reuters

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, second left, listens to Interros president Vladimir Potanin, left, during a tour of Olympic sites near Sochi on Wednesday.

'Golden opportunity'
Both Putin and the Sochi 2014 corporate sponsors have all denied enriching themselves by way of the games. Putin's eloquent press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, says there's nothing wrong with using corporate capitalism – and the excuse of the Olympic Games – to better the lives of all Russians.

"We have a golden opportunity to ensure that we have a boost for the whole development of the economy, not only the regional economy but the economy of the whole country," he said.

But how many ordinary Russians will benefit from this $50 billion spectacle?

People like Artyom and Mikael – both retired Russian middle-class neighbors – certainly haven't. They live in Mirni, a village cradled in the shadow of the new Olympic Stadium.

A couple of years ago the two bought into the "dream" and started to build an extension to Artyom's house, but ran out of funds, their pensions barely covering their food bills.

They have no gas, no plumbing, and suffer regular power outages, which cut off their heating. Outside, the road is permanently flooded and cratered, and their small Russian car can't take the ride to the market.

Almost everyone in Mirni – population 1500 - lives like this, but the world, they say, won't see what the real Russian life is like, as it will be hidden by Olympic barricades and banners.

"There's no place here to feel like a human," said Mikael, who, like Artyom, declined to give his last name. "Gazprom has built everything here for their needs but there's no place for simple people. Their security teams cast people away like barking dogs."

There's little doubt that "Putin's Dream" will come true. Sochi 2014 has all the ingredients to be a grand success.

Putin is already starting to stockpile vast amounts of snow for next winter, just in case. And he's bought an arsenal of snow guns, primed and ready to fire.

But terrorism is also a real threat here. With the troubled Caucasus republics nearby - like Chechnya, Dagestan and Abkhazia - it's likely that many spectators will actually be armed, plainclothes cops.

It would appear that Putin has thought of everything – including installing massive gas pipelines to fuel even more massive power stations, all brand new – to produce the world's best Olympic Games and return Russia to the glory of the days when Joseph Stalin spent his summers in his Sochi dacha, watching American cowboy movies.

But will these "Putin Games" boost the current Russian strongman's tarnished image in the West and beyond?

Lukyanov – and many other Russian analysts – don't think so. 

"He is not seen as a guy who is able to deliver a change, to deliver development, and I don't believe that the Olympic Games will be able to change Russia's image worldwide as a big, important but basically stagnating country.''

Let the Games - and the dream – begin.

Jim Maceda is an NBC News foreign correspondent based in London, currently on assignment in Sochi. He's covered Russia and the former Soviet Union for the past three decades.

Slideshow: Sochi 2014

Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images

The Winter Olympics arrive in Sochi on Feb. 7, 2014. A look at how the Russian city is shaping up for its moment in the spotlight.

Launch slideshow

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'Exploitative, abusive': Activists slam conditions for workers on Olympic site

How do you say 'volunteer' in Russian? Sochi 2014 introduces new concept

More Sochi 2014 coverage from NBC Olympics

Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images, file

Construction workers, many of them migrants, go for lunch in April 2011 at the ski resort that is part of the Sochi Olympic venue. Some workers are now complaining of having no, or few, breaks and of going unpaid.

Published at 11:10 a.m. ET: Months without pay, 12-hour shifts, few days off, fined for being sick, cramped accommodations filled with the “overwhelming smell of sweat” -- and deported for complaining.

A report by Human Rights Watch published Wednesday paints a grim picture of life for some foreign workers building the Olympic venues for the Sochi 2014 Games in Russia -- set to be the most expensive Olympics in history at a cost of $51 billion.

Based on interviews with 66 workers over three years at what has been described as the world’s biggest construction site, the report catalogs a litany of complaints about conditions.

“Athletes, journalists, and Olympic ticket holders in Sochi will watch the 2014 Winter Games in iconic modern sports venues, broadcast centers, and hotels,” the author of the report, Jane Buchanan, said in a statement.

Dmitry Lovetsky / AP

A hotel is shown under construction Monday at the mountain Olympic cluster east of Sochi. Much of the heavy work is being conducted by thousands of migrant workers, and conditions have caught the eye of Human Rights Watch.

“But many migrant workers have toiled in exploitative, abusive conditions to build these shimmering façades and luxurious interiors,” she added.

The report said most of the workers were carpenters, welders, steel fitters or people doing odd-jobs, typically earning $1.80 to $2.60 an hour. They came from countries such as Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

“Some workers worked for up to six months without pay, hoping to be paid and reluctant to leave, thereby forfeiting several months’ salary,” the report said. “Workers in these most egregious situations ultimately did leave these abusive employers, concluding that they might never be paid.”

Cigarette money
Omurbek, 30, from Uzbekistan, told the researchers that he “worked for almost three months, others worked for five months, for nothing.”

“Nothing but promises, promises from them,” he added. Occasionally, however, he would be given small amounts of money for cigarette and phone calls.

And Radmilo Petrovic, 52, from Serbia, lost more than just unpaid wages, according to the report.

After eight months of work for "a little bit [of money] here or there," he returned home penniless. His wife accused him of squandering or hiding the money and promptly left him.

Ruziboi Aliev, 48, a father of four from Tajikistan, worked on the Main Media Center site. He told Human Rights Watch that he worked 12-hour shifts and had five days off over a four-month period. A 23-year-old worker from Uzbekistan said he had one day off in six months.

“The work is really very difficult. There isn’t any rest. It’s really hard. The pay is miserly, but what can you do? ... They don’t even give you a minute to have a cigarette, or rest for a minute,” Salimjon, 22, from Uzbekistan said.

Isamiddin, 43, from Kyrgyzstan, said he was fined $32 a day for two days when he didn’t show up for work. “I was sick both times,” he said, complaining the fine was unfair as he earned $19 to $22 a day.

Workers described 150 to 200 people living in houses designed for one family.

One, from Uzbekistan, said he slept on a bunk bed in a room containing 8 to 12 people. “In the summer, it’s hot and stuffy, totally unbearable. In the winter, it’s not as bad; it’s tolerable, though you get really tired of the overwhelming smell of sweat,” he said.

The report said workers were sometimes not given a contract, meaning their employment status and therefore their right to live in Russia was “irregular.”

Slideshow: Sochi 2014

Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images

The Winter Olympics arrive in Sochi on Feb. 7, 2014. A look at how the Russian city is shaping up for its moment in the spotlight.

Launch slideshow

Human Rights Watch said that in October 2010, 50 workers staged a public demonstration about non-payment of wages. Their company then contacted state migration officials to check their documents “after which dozens of workers who had complained or demonstrated were deported.”

The claims, many of which were made anonymously for fear of retaliation, come after similar concerns were raised about foreign workers who helped build the venues and infrastructure for the 2008 Beijing Games.

In an e-mailed statement, state corporation Olympstroy, which oversees the construction work by a number of firms, said protection of workers’ rights was being strictly enforced. “Any worker, who has concerns about violations of his rights, is being encouraged … to report the problem,” it said.

Olympstroy added that it had received only five complaints from workers about “violations of their rights” during the past two years. “All violations have been properly addressed and dealt with as per the Russian law,” it added.

'It is never easy'
The International Olympic Committee issued a statement Wednesday saying “it is never easy dealing with anonymous allegations.”

“We would continue to urge HRW to furnish us with the details of cases that allow us to deal with them on a case-by-case basis and to push for action when necessary,” the IOC added.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who was with President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Wednesday, dismissed the suggestion that there was a significant problem.

“There have not been enough complaints to deserve an international report,” he told reporters, according to Reuters.

Asked about Kozak’s response, Buchanan said it was “inappropriate to diminish this.”

“What the Russian government should be doing is investigating these types of allegation and making sure they don’t take place,” she said.

Buchanan said workers from different companies and different Olympic sites had “consistently” reported similar complaints and stressed they were given no incentive to speak to Human Rights Watch.

She said the contractors involved had generally given responses -- detailed in the report -- that were “vague” generalizations, denying there was a problem.

Asked about what athletes and others thinking of going to Sochi should do in light of the report, Buchanan said that Human Rights Watch was “not against the Olympics.”

“The Olympics is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to present itself to the world,” she said. “We just want people to know that this is going on and to have higher expectations for future games -- that these types of abuses shouldn’t take place.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Anatoly Maltsev / EPA

Volunteers prepare a ski jumping hill in Sochi, Russia, on Friday.

Updated at 8:24 a.m. ET: SOCHI, Russia -- Representing Russia as a volunteer at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics is a matter of national pride for 19-year-old Tatiana Kulagina.

"I want to show foreigners that we are a friendly country and that we're not just drinking vodka!" she said.

Kulagina is one of Russia's chosen, an army of 25,000 volunteers, ready and willing to work long hours without pay. With more than 160,000 applications to date, the competition to become a volunteer is rather Olympian.

The world's attention will turn to the likes of Kulagina and this Black Sea resort when it hosts the Olympic Opening Ceremony one year from Thursday.

With at least $50 billion in public and private cash being spent on the Games, Sochi is expected to surpass Beijing 2008 as the most expensive Olympics in history. That figure is five times the original estimate.

The deluge of applicants is surprising in a country which has no history of volunteering. At the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games there were no volunteers -- people were conscripted into their roles by the Communist regime.

The Russian word for volunteer -- "dobrovolets" -- is so tainted by association with Communist-era mandatory labor that the fashionable word to use now is "voluntyor," which has been borrowed from English. 

"Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was a totalitarian society and volunteer work was ordered and organized by authorities," political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov said. The collapse of Soviet Union brought tremendous change but also resulted in society becoming more individualistic with an "emphasis on survival," he added.

The volunteer spirit may be new to Russia, but it has been embraced with enthusiasm.

Vareriya Zvezdova, 19, believes her Olympic experience will change her life. 

"I just realized this will be one of the greatest things in my life," she said. "I will be a little part of this great action, but I'll represent my country and that's why I think it's great."

Olympic organizers wanted to ensure that the volunteers represented not only the diverse population of this vast nation, but also that they were the best and the brightest. Would-be volunteers were tested on their their ability to cope with pressure and their language skills.

Intensive training has already begun for successful applicants, and including one-on-one Skype sessions learning English, studying local geography and guidance on being friendly.

Sochi has traditionally attracted Russian's most influential figures. It flourished as a resort in Imperial Russia as aristocrats traveled for its subtropical climate. 

In the wake of the 1917 revolution, Sochi was transformed into a state-sponsored worker's paradise, with large spas and sanatoriums built for workers. It later became a favorite holiday destination for Joseph Stalin and his cronies. The landscape of the city bears traces of its history with the occasional neo-classical and Stalinist buildings.

After being neglected and spurned for more fashionable destinations in recent years, Sochi is experiencing a renaissance. Russia's elite, including President Vladimir Putin and wealthy oligarchs, are once again flocking to the city.

Sochi's proximity to the Caucacus mountains means that winter sports were always possible, but until recently there were few facilities. Still, a summer resort featuring palm tree-lined streets was undoubtedly a unique choice for the Winter Games. 

With the Opening Ceremony exactly a year away, temperatures this week have reach a balmy 60 degrees F in Sochi. Temperatures average about 40 degrees Fahrenheit during February.

The Associated Press noted that weather is among the concerns facing Sochi:

"The snowfall this winter has been abundant, but the Russians have made contingency plans in light of the warm weather and rain that disrupted some of the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

The Rosa Khutor resort, which will host the Alpine skiing and other events, has one of the biggest snow-making systems in Europe, according to its managing director, Alexander Belokobylsky. The resort has two water reservoirs and 400 snow generators installed along the slopes. Rosa Khutor also stores snow through the summer, keeping it packed and under a tight insulated cover, and plans to store 150,000 cubic meters (195,000 cubic yards) of snow for the games."

Slideshow: Sochi 2014

Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images

The Winter Olympics arrive in Sochi on Feb. 7, 2014. A look at how the Russian city is shaping up for its moment in the spotlight.

Launch slideshow

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