By Paul Nicholson
April 24 – Russia’s stadium preparations for the 2018 World Cup are on schedule in terms of delivery dates, but off-schedule in terms of cost. An issue that is forcing the organisers to continually re-evaluate, but which they have repeatedly said will not derail the overall plan.
A government report delivered to the state Duma by the Ministry of Sports said that of the preparations for the 2017 Confederations Cup and 2018 World Cup in 2014, there was “100% implementation of the plan of action to implement the Federal Law”.
But with the falling value of the ruble and rising inflation, the cost of stadium construction has risen 30-40%, Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko said last week.
“The rise in the dollar and euro exchange rate, the rise in inflation, have of course affected the cost of the stadiums. Plus we signed certain contracts in dollars, but to buy those dollars has become more expensive,” Mutko told R-Sport late last week.
The ruble has dropped over 30% against the dollar since the start of the year due to falling oil process. For the World Cup infrastructure budgets the impact has been dramatic and immediate.
The government has ordered that where possible materials should be sourced from Russian companies only, while cost cutting has been undertaken wherever feasible.
The seating capacity of Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium has been cut from 89,000 to 81,000 under an order signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The Luzhniki will stage the opening match and the final in 2018.
Elsewhere the cost of the stadium in Samara is expected to rise from 13 billion rubles ($250 million) to 16 billion rubles ($310 million). On the other hand, the Volgograd stadium build will save up to 500 million rubles (about $10 million) by switching to Russian sourced materials.
Meanwhile Sochi, which has been the centre of sporting attention this week as it hosted what turned out to be a fiery SportAccord Congress, will have increased funds of 2.5 billion rubles ($50 million) to remodel the Olympic stadium and prepare for the 2018 World Cup. The initial budget for the reconstruction of the arena was 3-4 billion rubles ($60-79 million).
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