ATHENS, Aug. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Greek Alternate Culture Minister Fani Palli Petralia predicted on Tuesday that the total costs for the staging of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games will climb to around 13 billion (16 billion US dollars), although the actual costs has not been announced one year after the successful games.

    This is the first time that a Greek government official admitted Athens Olympic cost surpassed 10 billion euros, confirming experts' prediction that the Olympic overrun expenses stands more than double the original forecast by the previous government, and will leave a large deficit for generations to come as well as dozens of white elephants.

    In an interview with a local radio station, the minister, who is the responsible for all the Olympic preparations, said that a frugal budget for maintenance of the venues stood at around 100 million (125 million US dollars).

    One year after the "unforgettable, dream" Olympics, Greece is witnessing almost all of the Olympic venues locked to the visitors and largely useless commercially.

    She stressed that the ministry is still waiting for local authorities to submit proposals regarding certain venues for which no interest has been expressed.

    However, the press office of the main opposition PASOK party disagreed with the verdict, calling on the government to provide a detailed break-down of costs.