MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Russian economy expecting US$ 1.6bn boost from the World Cup

Minister Oreshkin expressed confidence Western sanctions won’t affect the event. “There’s politics, there’s the economy, and then there’s the life of regular people”

The Russian economy is expecting to get a significant financial boost from an increased tourist flow during the FIFA World Cup, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development said. “According to our estimates, foreigners will spend over 100 billion rubles (US$1.6 billion) during the World Cup in Russia,” Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin told Sovetsky Sport newspaper.

He expressed confidence Western sanctions won’t affect the event. “There’s politics, there’s the economy, and then there’s the life of regular people. The demand for a global competitive sports event, such as the World Cup, is always high,” Oreshkin said.

According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, about 400,000 foreign tourists will visit Russia for the World Cup in June-July. The growth of tourist flow in Russia will continue, with a 20% increase expected next year.

Oreshkin said the modernization of infrastructure for the World Cup will have a positive effect on many sectors of the economy and the quality of people’s lives.
”With the construction of modern hotels, airports, roads, the population’s activity in regional centers will rise. It will be easier to do business in, let’s say, Nizhny Novgorod or Rostov-on-Don. The cities will transform as well.”

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place at 12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, and Samara – from June 14 until July 15.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be the 21st FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men’s national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is scheduled to take place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights on 2 December 2010.

This will be the first World Cup held in Europe since the 2006 tournament in Germany, the first ever to be held in Eastern Europe and the eleventh time that it has been held in Europe. All of the stadium venues are in European Russia to keep travel time manageable.

The final tournament will involve 32 national teams, which include 31 teams determined through qualifying competitions and the automatically qualified host team. Of the 32 teams, 20 will be making back-to-back appearances following the last tournament in 2014, including defending champions Germany, while Iceland and Panama will both be making their first appearances at a FIFA World Cup. A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities. The final will take place on 15 July at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.