The former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan has lodged a bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in the city of Almaty.

The Vesti.kz news web-site on Monday quotes the vice president of Kazakhstan's national Olympic committee, Pavel Novikov, as saying an official letter was sent to the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland on Friday.

Novikov describes it as "only the first step," adding that Kazakhstan will have to carry out "thorough and detailed work" in the second stage.

Almaty previously bid for the 2014 Winter Games but did not make the list of finalists.

The IOC will select the 2022 host city in 2015.

Other potential contenders include Oslo; Munich; Barcelona, Spain; a city in Ukraine; and a joint bid from Poland and Slovakia.