Industry News

Sports Ministry takes action over Russia’s World Cup stadia

The Russian Sports Ministry has elected to sue Stroytransgaz, the general contractor for the construction of two 2018 FIFA World Cup stadiums, but officials have maintained the decision will not impact on development schedules for this year’s national team football showpiece.

State news agency Tass said the Sports Ministry has filed two lawsuits totalling more than one billion rubles (€14.5m/$17.7m) to Stroytransgaz, which is responsible for stadia being developed in Volgograd and Nizhny Novgorod.

The Moscow Times website added that, in total, six lawsuits have been filed against four contractors for delays in construction schedules. The action is also said to include stadia in Saransk (pictured), Samara, Yekaterinburg, Kaliningrad and Rostov-on-Don, over violations of “a number of obligations on construction schedules.” The action is reported to be worth more than 2.9 billion rubles in total.

However, Alexei Milovanov, heads of Sport Engineering Co, a client of seven World Cup stadia, maintained the Ministry’s actions will not impact on preparations.

“The lawsuits were filed in line with terms of state contracts, which those companies violated last year regarding the fulfilment of some of their construction schedule commitments,” Milovanov said, according to Tass.

“At the same time, this procedure will not affect the construction’s deadline. All stadiums will be built in line with the approved work schedule and will be fully ready to hold test matches scheduled for March and April.”

Image:  Teufri