The sleepy Black Sea resort of Sochi has been transformed into a hotbed of political rivalry for a starring role in Russia’s Olympic preparations.

Alexander Lebedev, a former Soviet spy in London who is now the billionaire owner of the city’s Evening Standard newspaper, is the latest to enter what promises to be Russia’s most colourful election in years.

As Sochi prepares to host the 2014 Winter Games, some of Russia’s most prominent figures are vying to become its mayor.

Mr Lebedev, 49, faces competition from Boris Nemtsov, a former Deputy Prime Minister who leads the anti-Kremlin Solidarity movement. Andrei Lugovoy, the man Britain accuses of murdering the dissident spy Alexander Litvinenko, is also expected to be on the ballot for the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).

The man they are running against is Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, even though he will not be on the ballot. Mr Putin has personally guaranteed a successful Olympics in Sochi and the next mayor will play a critical role in preparations for the Games and the allocation of billions of pounds of investment.

His United Russia party has yet to name its candidate for the election on April 26, but the Kremlin will be desperate to ensure that the prestige project remains tightly under its control. Mr Lebedev stood against Moscow’s powerful mayor Yuri Luzhkov in 2003 before Mr Putin abolished elections in the capital.

He told The Times yesterday that he planned to challenge the Kremlin with a Barack Obama-style campaign to win popular support. Mr Lebedev said: “I am not given the floor in Moscow so why not use some of my resources and knowledge to challenge in another city where they still have the chance of a fair election? People are not happy with the way they are being treated as far as the Olympics are concerned so it won’t be easy to put a United Russia stamp on this election.”

Mr Lebedev is an outspoken critic of Mr Putin and his liberal credentials include ownership of Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s most prominent opposition newspaper. He frequently attacks official corruption, but also casts himself as a “loyal opposition” figure, chiding the Kremlin as a patriotic democrat eager to improve Russia.

The third candidate is Boris Nemtsov, the leader of the opposition Solidarity movement.

Sochi’s Olympic credentials have elevated the backwater of 350,000 inhabitants to the status of Russia’s third most important city after Moscow and St Petersburg. Opposition groups see the race for mayor as an opportunity for a national political platform.

Mr Putin, a keen skier, has invested his credibility in the Games, declaring last month: “We are preparing a major international event and celebration for the whole Russian nation . . . Problems are not permitted.” Yet problems appear to be stacking up as construction delays and the global recession’s impact on Russia’s oligarchs cast doubt on Mr Putin’s $12 billion (£8.5 billion) plans to transform Sochi into a world-class venue.

Kremlin-friendly billionaires have made commitments to build Olympic projects but the financial crisis has left many strapped for cash. Oleg Deri-paska, for instance, is thought to have lost 90 per cent of his $40 billion fortune. He bought Sochi’s airport in 2006 and has pledged to build a new passenger terminal capable of handling 2,500 international visitors an hour. The existing terminal, little more than a shabby tin shed, can process just 130.

Billions of pounds in government money is also being poured in to improve roads and rail links for a city that suffers regular traffic jams on its antiquated coastal roads. Despite being a popular resort in Soviet times, Sochi lacks basic sewage facilities and suffers repeated power cuts.

Modern ski lifts and runs mostly remain on paper. Many residents say they are being forced from their homes with inadequate compensation to make way for the Olympic village, while environmentalists complain that wildlife is suffering irreparable damage. British experts working on the 2012 Games in London are passing on tips to their counterparts in Sochi.

But the effort to improve Anglo-Rus-sian relations after Litvinenko’s murder would be derailed by the election of Mr Lugovoy, who is accused of poisoning him.

Mr Putin has promised to make the country’s first Winter Olympics a showcase for the “new Russia”. The country’s biggest sporting event since the 1980 summer Games has now triggered an epic election campaign for control of the city that will host it.

The challengers

Alexander Lebedev Former KGB officer, now billionaire owner of the Evening Standard. Worth £2.3 billion, rated as the world’s 358th richest person. Fortune comes from stakes in banking, insurance companies and the Russian airline Aeroflot. He hates being labelled an oligarch

Andrei Lugovoy Former KGB officer and Kremlin bodyguard wanted in Britain for the 2006 murder of Alexander Litvinenko. Now represents Russia’s ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party in Russian parliament after winning elections in 2007

Boris Nemtsov Nuclear scientist and environmentalist, once thought to be being groomed as Boris Yeltsin’s successor. Lost his job as Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic reform in the 1998 economic crisis. Now leader of the opposition Solidarity movement. Born in Sochi Source: Times database

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