Turkish construction company Polimeks İnşaat has been contracted to build an "Olympic city" in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat at a cost of $1.9 billion.

Turkmenistan said that it planned to invest an initial $1.9 billion to build a new "Olympic city" sports facility -- although the Central Asian republic has not yet announced any plans to bid to host the Olympic Games. The plans were announced on the government's website. Construction will start next month and is expected to be completed by 2014. A Turkmen government official, who declined to be named, said the new complex would comply with the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) requirements for competition at all level.