Stadium built for Russia's World Cup left in dark over unpaid bills

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Electricity was cut on Tuesday at a Russian stadium built for this year's football World Cup over unpaid bills, a power supplier in the city of Samara told Reuters, despite President Vladimir Putin saying he did not want such venues to fall into disuse.

Stadium built for Russia's World Cup left in dark over unpaid bills

(Reuters)





Samaraenergo said the power supply was cut early on Tuesday because PSO Kazan, the company that built the 42,000-seat stadium, had not paid its electricity bills this year and had racked up 9,216,000 rubles (£105,593) in debt.

"We waited for a long time, we delayed the power cut," said Olga Perkova, a spokeswoman for Samaraenergo.

"Because PSO Kazan did not resolve the issue of paying its debt, a decision was made to cut electricity."

But after an internal meeting on Tuesday, Samaraenergo decided to turn the power back on because of upcoming Russian Premier League matches at the Samara Arena, even though it remains unclear when PSO Kazan will clear its debt, Perkova said.

PSO Kazan did not reply to a request for comment.

Krylia Sovetov Samara, a Russian Premier League club, will face Anzhi Makhachkala at the stadium on Saturday. Krylia Sovetov did not reply to a request for comment, but wrote on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon that power had been turned back on.

The Russian Premier League referred questions on the use of World Cup stadiums to Sport-In, a state-run company that manages the venues built for the tournament.

When contacted on Tuesday, Sport-In said preparations for Saturday's match were underway as usual. Authorities had scrambled in the run-up to the World Cup to finish work at the venue, following a series of construction delays.

The stadium hosted six tournament matches, including England's 2-0 quarter-final win against Sweden.

Russia hosted the World Cup in June and July in 12 stadiums spread across 11 cities, and the authorities have pledged that the newly-built venues will be put to good use.

Putin last month urged the government to ensure the infrastructure did not fall into disuse.

But Russia has run into problems at some of its new stadiums. A day after last month's final, heavy rain damaged the newly-built stadium in the southern city of Volgograd.





(Additional reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; Editing by Mark Potter)


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Stadium built for Russia's World Cup left in dark over unpaid bills | SBS News