MOSCOW - Sales of the tickets for the 2014 Winter Olympics have started.

The tickets are being sold online via an agency which also operates in the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia and several European countries, local sports media R-Sport reported Monday.

According to the official online seller, ticket price for the winter games started from 500 rubles (about 16 US dollars) for the ice hockey group games and up to 50,000 rubles (over 1,600 dollars) for the opening ceremony.

The majority of the tickets available through the Russian website have been sold out in the first few hours after the official start of the sales on February 7, the same day that Russia started a countdown for the 22nd Winter Olympic Games.

The brisk sell-out of the tickets raised suspicions among local observers that the Olympics passes could have been grabbed by organized ticketing squatters who hope to resell them later, despite severe fines (over 33,000 US dollars) the Russian government has introduce for the touts.

The first Winter Olympic Games held in Russia are to take place from February 7 to February 23, 2014 in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. The Games will feature 98 medal events, 12 more than the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.