St. Petersburg Prepares for the World Cup: Northern Capital Gets Much Needed Infrastructure Boost
Our broadcast continues with a special project about the World Cup. Our correspondents have prepared a series of reports about the hosting cities. Today's report is about St. Petersburg.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup will begin soon. All 11 cities that will host the FIFA World Cup games are ready for the event. Our channel's correspondents have visited each one of these cities.
St. Petersburg has prepared very thoroughly. The number of tourists that visit the city on the Neva annually already exceeds the local population. During this year's peak season of the "white nights," that number will increase due to 400,000 fans and the main celebrities, the world's soccer stars.
What do players from Costa Rica have for breakfast? Why do the Korean athletes fear the "white nights"? And what is happening at the city's main stadium in anticipation of the 2018 FIFA World Cup?
Anna Lazareva's special report has all the answers.
St. Petersburg will host 7 FIFA World Cup games. Four of them will be held during the championship's group stage on June 15th, 19th, 22nd, and 26th. Two playoffs and one consolation game have also been scheduled. The Northern Capital will be the location of the third-place playoff for the bronze medal.
The St. Petersburg Stadium is the Northern Capital's heart of soccer. The stadium was built according to Kisho Kurokawa's "The Spaceship" project. During the 10 years of the stadium's construction, it had earned a checkered reputation, became the most expensive one in the country, made it to the top ten world stadiums list, and set a new attendance record. Last year, it had its debut during the 2017 FIFA Confederation Cup, and this year, it'll host the 2018 FWC. The St. Petersburg Stadium is where Russia will play the most critical game in its group, which will greatly determine whether the team will make it to the playoffs. On June 19th, it's Russia vs. Egypt. 22 people on the field and 60,000 in the bleachers.
The mobile field will spend one month outside prior to the championship; it's better for the lawn. Every day, it gets watered, evened out, and brushed through with special equipment under the supervision of agriculturalists. This field is enormous and weighs a hefty 8,400 tons. The designers and the construction workers have never dealt with such size, but everything should go smoothly; it has been rehearsed many times. 40 minutes later, the field is back under the dome, the same amount of time is required to open and close the retractable roof.
Igor Albin, St. Petersburg's Vice-Governor: "I'm amazed every time it all starts moving".
— Why?
"It's beautiful. They open the gate and roll out the field. You can drive a car or a motorcycle inside, or install a pool and swim. You can even play hockey".
Numerous canals, islands, and drawbridges attract millions of tourists to St. Petersburg. However, the 2018 FIFA World Cup has become a real challenge for transportation infrastructure engineers because the main structure, the stadium, is located on an island.
The Novokrestovskaya Subway Station is within a ten-minutes' walk of the stadium. Four years ago, the Gulf of Finland used to be where the Subway is located today. In order to build the station, they used "alluvions" to artificially expand the island.
Aleksey Starkov, the COO of Metrostroy: "The station's throughput is 30,000 people per hour, and for the standard stations, it's 15,000-20,000. During rush hour, there will be 27 train-pairs per hour".
Another route that connects the St. Petersburg Stadium to the rest of the city passes over water, not underground. Yakhtenny Bridge will take you to the stadium from the Primorsky District. This is the tallest and the longest pedestrian bridge in St. Petersburg. It's 1,000 meters long and has a throughput of 24,000 people per hour. The construction of the bridge had cost almost 2 billion rubles. However, it didn't cost the taxpayers a dime; the whole project was financed by private companies.
The Betankura Bridge over Malaya Neva was open for traffic a month prior to the World Cup. The bridge is named after a famous 19th century scientist. This passage connects Vasilyevsky Island and Petrogradsky District, where the stadium is located. Unlike many other bridges, this one won't be drawn. All of its six lanes, bike lanes, and sidewalks are open for traffic 24/7/365. You can drive your car, ride your bike, or walk across it.
Ruben Terteryan, the CEO of St. Petersburg's Transport Planning Center: "Its purpose consists of two parts: direct access to the stadium from the airport and Zelenogorsk, where the teams' bases are located in the north, and the second purpose is the relief of Tuchkov Bridge, which is used to deliver the client groups from the central part of the city".
In St. Petersburg, the remodeled Pulkovo-2 terminal has been allocated for the fans. It has all the necessities, like a check-in counter, customs, border control, and even a VAT refund desk. Pulkovo-2 will only accept organized groups that will arrive and depart via charter flights. They're expecting about 100 groups total. Egypt has reserved the most flights — over 60. They're expecting flights with fans from Iran, Morocco, Brazil, and Argentina. The terminal will switch to revertive mode: for arrivals or for departures only.
Vladimir Yakushev, the airport's CEO: "For convenience purposes, we've provided a so-called buffer zone. For late departures and early arrivals, we'll set up a pavilion with amenities nearby, where people will be able to get something to eat while they're waiting".
Specially licensed cab drivers will be serving the FIFA World Cup guests. One of the requirements for them is fluent English. One of the most important transportation hubs is located near the airport. It provides a shorter route from Pulkovo to the city's center and eastern parts. This freeway junction is located at the intersection of the Pulkovo Highway and Dunaysky Avenue.
Vyacheslav Urusov, the CEO of St. Petersburg's Transport Construction Board: "There's three times less traffic than before".
All of St. Petersburg's railroad stations have been transformed. Moscow Station's facade has been renovated and the interior is now more comfortable for passengers. Arrival zones and restrooms have been improved. Transporting luggage is now easier with the newly installed ramps. A new security system has also been installed. New HD cameras will be able to identify intruders and criminals.
Viktor Buryak, the COO of the Northwestern Regional Railroad Station Board: "Signs in Russian and English have been installed. All the real-time signs and arrival and departure boards for long-distance uptown trains have been replaced. They now display information in at least two languages — Russian and English. At Moscow Station and Leningrad Station, they also have it in Chinese. At Finland Station, in the arrival hall for Allegro trains, they'll also have information in Finnish. All voice announcements will be made in Russian and in English."
The fan zone was set up in the historic center of St. Petersburg — Equerry Square. The most famous tourist attractions are nearby: the Palace Square, the Church of the Savior on Blood, the Court Chapel, and the Pushkin Apartment Museum. Fans will be able to enjoy a 100 sq. m. screen, a food court, and various entertainment. Everything will be under constant security monitoring.
Evgeny Gagonin, the Chief of the FWC preparation sector: "We've determined all the potential vehicle-ramming attack spots in order to avoid terrorist attacks like the ones that took place in France and in Spain. Thus, all of those potentially dangerous locations are secured with anti-ram hydraulic barriers, which basically prevents the possibility of a vehicle-ramming attack".
Prior to the teams' arrival, the city had built four training grounds. Three of them are located in the region: in Pavlovsk, Zelenogorsk, and Lomonosov. The fourth one is located in St. Petersburg on Metallistov Avenue. Each one had a budget of 400 million rubles and was built to the highest FIFA standards. They feature a natural lawn with sprinkler and heating systems, locker rooms, and gyms. After the championship, these sites will be passed on to sports schools for kids and adolescents.
Georgy Poltavchenko, Governor of St. Petersburg: "I hope that these fields will help train future soccer players that will represent our country at top championships, giving us the chance to be proud of Russian soccer".
Hotels have also been prepared for the teams. The Costa Rican team chose a 4-star hotel of a famous brand in the suburban town of Shushary. The guests will have the entire floor. All the rooms are spacious and have a living room, a bedroom, and a view. Their training grounds, the Olympiets Stadium is located in the neighboring town of Pavlovsk.
François Morvan, the hotels' GM: "The TV is built into the footboard, which is convenient for the guests".
The team's players had only one request, and it was about the menu. A special dish, gallo pinto, will be prepared for the Costa Rican team every morning.
Aleksandr Alpatov, the hotel's sous-chef: "It's made with dark beans, rice, fresh veggies, and a special sauce called Salsa Lizano. One of the Costa Rican team's reps has sent us a detailed video recipe for this dish".
The soccer players from Korea will be accommodated in a hotel near the magnificent Peterhof Palace. They've prepared two buildings with 50 rooms total for the team. There weren't too many requests. Mattresses and pillows were replaced for the guests from Seoul. They were worried they wouldn't get enough sleep during the "white nights," but the hotel staff has taken care of it.
Ekaterina Egorova, the hotel's GM: "We've purchased special drapes, similar to ours. When you close them, you can barely see anything".
The FIFA World Cup is also a giant sportsbook. There are fans placing bets on one side and bookmakers on the other. But there's also a thirty party — the government. In anticipation of the FIFA World Cup, the St. Petersburg City Parliament has doubled the tax rates imposed on sportsbook companies. The treasury will get an additional 50 million rubles.
Ilya Gubarets, the CEO of an affiliated sportsbook company: "Considering the fact that the tax will increase from 7,000 to 14,000, I can't say there will be large percentages. It probably won't be a significant amount for us amid the general network".
The nationwide gambling turnover is 700 billion rubles ($113 million) and is increasing by 5-7% annually. There will be a serious battle for these billions.
Aleksey Tkachuk, a web portal's CDO: "The bookmakers will offer the highest possible ratio for their business. They will drop the margin so low that stakers will want to bet with them. This will also ensure competition".
Not everyone will have quasi-rent. However, those who attract customers will double or even triple their average profits.
Dmitry Pavlovsky, a sportsbook company's VP: "Considering the unique opportunity for our country to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which will all be happening in our homeland, the interest in sports betting will increase even more. The projected growth is 150-200%."
Over half the bets are made online, and that's where a large chunk of the marketing budget goes since TV advertisement is only allowed during sports event broadcasts. Examples of real bets are better than any advertisement. For instance, you can bet 100 rubles ($1.6) and win 140,000 rubles ($2300). Or, you can bet 5 rubles ($0.1) and win 350,000 rubles ($5700). Alright, let's try our luck.
— Hello. How much will I win if I bet that Russia will make it to the World Cup finals?
— 20,000 rubles.
The bookmakers believe there's 1.5-2% chance that our team will win. However, Russians are hoping for the best.