The IOC evaluation committee finished their tour on Thursday

The Russian capital is widely seen as an outsider in the race to stage the Games, but Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov is upbeat about his city's bid.

"We had an excellent dialogue with the evaluation commission," he said.

"We look forward to surprising a lot of people by being selected as the host city in July."

We were impressed by the high quality infrastructure that has existed for the past 20 years Nawal el Moutawakel, IOC commission

Paris, London and Madrid are the favourites to host the 2012 Games, while New York's bid continues to be beset by arguments over the proposed Olympic stadium.

But IOC commission chairwoman Nawal el Moutawakel said: "Moscow has a very serious bid, a very good bid.

"They have successfully answered all our questions. They don't have to be an outsider. We don't have to believe it."

Russia power boss survives attack

However, security was highlighted as a major issue on a day when the head of Russia's state-controlled electricity monopoly, Anatoly Chubais, survived an assassination attempt.

"Security is an important issue," said Gilbert Felli, vice chairman of the IOC panel. "We will discuss this among us.

"We have received a very detailed description by law enforcement security on what will be put in place for the Games."

Earlier, the inspectors visited Moscow's Olympisky swimming pavilion and Lokomotiv stadium complex, home to one of Moscow's six soccer teams.

"We were impressed by the high quality infrastructure that has existed for the past 20 years," said El Moutawakel. "This is something that we were pleased to see."

Luzhkov has pronounced himself delighted with the IOC evaluation committee's four-day visit to Moscow.

"We have all very much enjoyed demonstrating our credentials and enthusiasm for hosting the Games during the course of this week," said Luzhkov.

"There is no question that Moscow would host historic, spectacular games in 2012."