By Paul Nicholson
January 22 – A comparison of stadium build costs for five of the Russian stadia for 2018, against the cost of football stadiums across Europe, has found that the Russian stadia are coming in at a comparatively equal cost and half the price of London’s Wembley Stadium on a cost per seat basis.
The research was commissioned by Russia’s Sport Engineering, which is contracted to build seven stadiums for the 2018 World Cup. The five Russian stadia used are all planned 45,000-seat capacity and in Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov on Don, Saransk and Samara.
All stadia are scheduled for completion in 2017 with Samara being the cheapest to build with Volgograd coming in about 17% more expensive.
On a cost per seat comparison with other European stadia, all completed in 2012 or earlier, the Russian stadia sit roughly in the middle of the table (see tables below).
Stadium costs (Europe)
Stadium costs (Russia)
The survey notes that the cost of materials in the construction of stadiums in 2004 – 2012 were lower than in 2015 – 2017, and that different climate and ground conditions also impact on cost.
The major impact on cost facing Russian builders is the price of materials, particularly those sourced from overseas where the value of the rouble has plummeted with the drop in the global price paid for oil and economic sanctions against Russia by the west.
Some contractors have already reported major shifts in their sourcing from overseas companies to Russian domestic providers.
The impact of the falling Ruble has also reduced the number of foreign workers from Russia’s neighbouring countries. Contractors for the Zenit-Arena in St Petersburg, say the foreign labour levels have been reduced by 20% due to the fall in value of the Ruble against the Euro.
Mikhail Demidenko, head of the construction committee in St Petersburg, is reported as saying that he expects the number of skilled workers on ste to be restored to the required levels at the end of the first quarter of this year. Currently there are 2,700 workers on site at the Zenit-Arena.
The stadium, which is being built on Krestovsky island started in 2007. It will have a capacity of 68,000 and completion is targeted for May 2016.
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