Stadiums of the future
In Russia, 11 cities continue to live in constant preparation for the World Cup games. They were initially placed in unequal conditions. For example, Kazan can host the championship at least tomorrow – after the Universiade, the city has everything for holding an international championship, and the main stadium project has not yet been approved in Yekaterinburg. But Yekaterinburg has one of the best airports in the country, Koltsovo, while Saransk does not have an international airport at all. Budgets at all levels are investing billions to make the situation even out over the next three years.
The business program of the 100+ Forum Russia 2015 already includes thematic sections on the design, construction and operation of sports arenas and stadiums as unique structures.
See our review to find out exactly what activities are expected to be carried out in the largest of these 11 cities.
The games start from the stadium
The most extensive work will be carried out during the construction of stadiums. Stadiums will be built in Samara, Saransk, Yekaterinburg, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don and Sochi with budgetary funds for the 2018 World Cup. The only city (with the exception of Moscow) that is actually ready to host matches today is Kazan. According to Vladimir Leonov, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Republic of Tatarstan, there are no plans for global transformations in Kazan for the Games. "The legacy left after the Universiade in 2013 has played a role, so there will be no capital investments for the championship. Our main facility is already ready, the Kazan Arena stadium, which meets all FIFA requirements and is already being operated as a football stadium," said Mr. Leonov. The maintenance of the stadium costs 200 million rubles annually. According to the minister, this summer the World Aquatics Championships will be held at the stadium, after which it will be switched back to the "football mode", and FC Rubin will continue to play here. In addition, Kazan will host the Confederations Cup 2017: a football tournament among national teams, held under the auspices of FIFA. Traditionally, the event is considered as a "rehearsal" tournament before the World Cup. "Of course, we have work to do on the reconstruction of training grounds and bases – in total, the FIFA catalog includes seven sites, and the teams themselves will be able to choose where they train," explained Vladimir Leonov. According to the minister, the total cost from all budgets of all levels for the preparation of Kazan for the World Cup will amount to 6 billion rubles. The main part will be spent on the reconstruction of training grounds.
In other cities, work on the creation of the main sports ground is at an early stage.
Volgograd
A stadium with a capacity of 45,000 spectators is being built on the site of the former Central Stadium. Currently, the demolition of the old stadium has been completed, and the excavation is underway – a zero cycle of construction work – at the site of the future Pobeda Arena. The cost of the stadium under the contract is 16.5 billion rubles. The Victory Arena is scheduled to be completed in November 2017. "The concept of the legacy of the 2018 World Cup is still being worked out by specialists, this part of the work is included in the contract for the construction of the stadium," the regional administration added. Four training grounds and bases for the teams will also be prepared. A total of 41.4 billion rubles will be allocated to prepare Volgograd for the World Cup under the federal program. Of these, 26.4 billion rubles will be allocated from the federal budget, 2.9 billion rubles will be allocated from the budget of the Volgograd region, another 841.9 million rubles will be provided by the budget of Volgograd, and extra–budgetary sources will amount to 11.2 billion rubles. Another 27.8 billion rubles will be allocated under the regional program (the federal budget – 11.6 billion rubles, the budget of the Volgograd region – 3.7 billion rubles, the budget of Volgograd – 992 million rubles, extra–budgetary sources - 11.5 billion rubles).
Nizhniy Novgorod
The Nizhny Novgorod Ministry of Sports and Youth Policy said that financing in the amount of 63.5 billion rubles is provided for the preparation of Nizhny Novgorod, of which about 12 billion are from the federal budget, about 11 billion from the regional budget, about 9.5 billion from local budgets and about 31 billion from extra–budgetary sources. "In accordance with the regional training program, which the Nizhny Novgorod Region approved as the first in Russia, measures are being implemented for the design and construction of hotel and transport infrastructure, as well as infrastructure for the functioning of sports facilities. This is a new airport terminal, a new stadium for 45,000 spectators, and new training facilities," the ministry said. It is planned that after the World Cup, the Volga Arena (the working name of the stadium) will be used as a multifunctional cultural and sports center. Children from sports schools, football players from Volga, a local football club, and students from the Olympic training center will train here. "Now, together with Aek, one of the world leaders in project management in the field of construction and management, we are working on the concept of the stadium's heritage – it will include both a commercial and a social component," the representative of the ministry explained. Earlier, local authorities stated that 500 million rubles would be needed annually to maintain the stadium.
Saransk
In Saransk, the construction of the stadium will cost 16.5 billion rubles. After the World Cup, it will become the home arena of the Mordovia football club and the Mordovochka women's football team, as well as the sports, public, shopping and entertainment center of Saransk. In total, the city can receive about 32 billion rubles to prepare for the World Cup matches.
Ekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is probably the only city where the stadium project for the World Cup has not yet been approved. The matches will have to be held at the Central Stadium, the reconstruction project of which has not yet been presented to the public. It is only known that the stadium of Yekaterinburg (as well as Kaliningrad) was allowed to reduce to 35 thousand seats (in all other projects – 45 thousand seats). Currently, the facility is undergoing the dismantling of hinged structures, which is expected to be completed by June. The stadium project itself is scheduled to be submitted for state examination in April. According to the latest data from the regional authorities, the project is estimated at 8 billion rubles. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko had previously stated that "there are no concerns about this facility," and active work, according to him, would begin in April. Earlier, the authorities reported that after the reconstruction is completed, the Central Stadium in Yekaterinburg will become not just a sports facility, but a full-fledged public building that will be used constantly, for example, for concerts or other major events. In addition to the stadium, the Uralmash sports complex is being reconstructed in the city, 500 million rubles from the regional budget will be invested there, and another 94 million rubles from the federal budget. 15.35 million rubles will be spent on Kalininets from the regional budget, 24.95 million from the Yekaterinburg budget, and the same amount will be spent on the Ural sports complex. In total, more than 35 billion rubles will be allocated for the preparation of the city for the championship, 21.8 billion of them will be allocated from the budget of the Sverdlovsk region. The region will receive only 4.23 billion rubles from the federal budget.
Cities on the way
The second costly part of the training will be infrastructure projects, which also vary in cost and scope of work. For example, in Kazan, it is necessary to implement only a few infrastructure projects in the field of energy conservation and water supply. According to the plans, the most extensive work in the cities will be on the creation of transport infrastructure. The federal budget will allocate almost 30 billion rubles for these projects.
In Volgograd, to ensure access for fans and athletes to the stadium, it is necessary to bring 12 facilities into regulatory compliance, the regional administration notes, adding that the estimated cost of the work will be 11.5 billion rubles. About 2.5 billion rubles will be allocated for the reconstruction of Aviatorov Highway alone. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2017. In addition, the airport will be reconstructed in the city, including runways with artificial turf, taxiways, power supply systems, and sewage treatment plants. Financing of the work on the first stage is expected to amount to 3.7 billion rubles. In addition, it is planned to create a terminal complex based on the railway station. The reconstruction will combine the railway, suburban, and bus stations at different levels. It is expected that by the 2018 World Cup, an Aeroexpress train will be operating in the city - an electrified 1.2 km railway line will be built from Gumrak railway station to the passenger service terminal at Volgograd International Airport. The Volgograd-1 suburban railway station is also to be reconstructed with the creation of related service infrastructure and the Mamaev Kurgan platform in the Central Stadium area. Taking into account the construction of the new branch, the final estimated travel time from the airport to Volgograd-1 station for the electric train will be 18-20 minutes, which meets the FIFA requirements for the host cities. According to Russian Railways, the minimum cost of the project will be 1.6 billion rubles. A three-kilometer stretch of the Volga River is being reinforced in the Central Region. The entire three-kilometer coastal zone can be put into operation as early as 2016. The total cost of the facility is 5 billion rubles.
In Yekaterinburg, serious work is planned on the entrances to the stadium. In total, the city needs more than 4.5 billion rubles to prepare the road network. About 3.3 billion rubles will be spent on the reconstruction of Tatishcheva Street "with the construction of a section on Moskovskaya," 1.2 billion rubles will be spent on the reconstruction of Repin and Pirogovaya streets. Another 218.9 million rubles will be spent on the reconstruction of the Repin Street water pipeline from Otradnaya to Leningradskaya streets. It is also planned to build a parking lot near the stadium for fans. The two-level parking lot will be located on Tatishcheva Street, on the section from Repin to Pirogov. The total capacity is 439 parking spaces. Soon, work will begin in the city to relocate the buildings of the Ural Scientific Research Institute for Maternal and Infant Health (NII OMM) from the Central Stadium. The Capital Construction Department of the Sverdlovsk Region has already announced a tender for the construction of a new building complex in the Akademicheskiy district. The initial price of the work is 2.1 billion rubles. Koltsovo Airport is also waiting for changes. The international terminal will be reconstructed there, a new garage for special vehicles and a hangar for business aircraft will be built. A multi-level parking for 500 spaces will be built next to the Angelo Hotel. By 2020, it is planned to expand the terminal complex at Koltsovo Airport, reconstruct the boarding gate gallery systems, equip two additional teletraps, build a business center and a new catering building.
Nizhny Novgorod should receive a new Strelka metro station by 2018, which will be decorated in a football style. 6.2 billion rubles will be allocated from the federal budget for these purposes. The region will receive federal money from 2014 to 2017. The station will have a capacity of about 30,000 passengers per day. The demand for the metro in this part of the city will not dry up even after the World Cup, the authorities believe, since a new socio-political center will open on Meshchera, where mass events will take place. A new terminal will be built at the city's airport, which will provide a high capacity of more than 800 passengers per hour and more than 1.5 million people per year, as well as open up prospects for connecting the airport to the Moscow–Nizhny Novgorod–Kazan high-speed railway (HSR).
Big changes will take place in Saransk, where the airport has no international status at all. It is expected that active construction of a new terminal will begin here in the spring, which will be able to serve at least 275 people per hour, and will be able to expand twice during the championship. A temporary terminal with 1.1 thousand passengers per hour will be opened here by the championship. In addition, the runway will be expanded, parking lots and new entrances to the building will be built. The expenses will amount to about 3.5 billion rubles. Two more large-scale transport projects will be implemented in the city. This is a bypass around Saransk and a road that will connect the north-west and north-east of the city. The second new highway will pass through the railway and the Insar River and will connect all the residential districts of Saransk. The projects are estimated at 11 billion rubles.
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