A company controlled by Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska bought the Sochi airport Monday at a government auction, hoping the city will win the right to stage the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Trade and Economic Development Ministry official Igor Konkov said the investment was promising given Sochi's strong Olympic bid, according to RIA-Novosti.

Deripaska's holding company, an affiliate of Basic Element, paid 5.5 billion rubles (US$206 million, euro160 million) for the airport.

The government has committed to upgrading the runways, and the new owners were to invest in a new airport terminal. The current airport has very basic facilities.

The Winter Games have never been held in Russia, and President Vladimir Putin's government is fully supporting Sochi.

The resort town in southern Russia, between the Black Sea and the mountains, is a finalist along with Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The International Olympic Committee will visit Sochi on February 20-23, and will vote for the 2014 host in Guatemala City in July 2007.

Deripaska is one of Russia's richest men, with a fortune of US$7.8 billion (euro6.07 billion) according to Forbes magazine.

Besides owning Russia's biggest aluminum company, OAO Rusal, Deripaska controls automaker OAO GAZ, Russia's second-largest auto company and the world's seventh-largest maker of light commercial vehicles.