Summer Universiade build-up goes excellently well, Sergey Stepashin says

Сhairman of the Accounts Chamber of Russia, Sergey Stepashin highly praised the ongoing preparations for the World University Games in Kazan. He announced this flattering assessment during the meeting with journalists that took place at the end of the joint meeting of the Accounts Chambers of Russia and Tatarstan held on December 13 in Kazan and dedicated to the results of the audit of the state budget expenditures allocated to organise, prepare and deliver the Kazan 2013 Summer Universiade.

Sergey Stepashin said: "The Summer Universiade build-up goes excellently well. The unique facilities are almost 90% ready for operation, and the majority of the funds have already been put to use." According to the Accounts Chamber Chairman, Tatarstan has met all its obligations having funded its share of the project. Sergey Stepashin also highly commended the practical use of the facilities that have become part of the Kazan 2013 Legacy. "There is no problem putting these facilities into service," he noted, emphasising that all of them are already being regularly used by students and school children.

The topic regarding the facilities that are currently under construction, such as the 45,000-seat stadium and the Aquatics Palace, generated a great deal of interest among journalists, and Sergey Stepashin expressed his confidence that the venues will meet all deadlines. In addition, Sergey Stepashin also proposed to use the design of the new 45,000-seat football stadium in Kazan as an example to construct similar facilities in other cities across Russia, especially in the build-up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup matches. The football stadium in Kazan meets all FIFA requirements, noted Sergey Stepashin, and due to the quality of the construction and its compliance with international standards, its design can be used as a basis.

President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov also took part in the conversation, commenting that the construction of the stadium turned out to be a more complicated project than anticipated. "Even for us, with our design institutes and robust construction industry - and we have no problem building an oil refinery - this stadium was quite a complicated project. It had its own challenges. But our new-found experience will be put to good use," said Rustam Minnikhanov.