Denis Kalinkin: “Preparing for the championship is not a show-off, but a huge work on the reputation and development of the city”

Denis Kalinkin: “Preparing for the championship is not a show-off, but a huge work on the reputation and development of the city”

<p> (KZN.RU, July 16, Ksenia Shvetsova). Kazan not only became famous throughout the world, but also increased its experience in organizing major international events thanks to the World Cup. Denis Kalinkin, the head of the Executive Committee, expressed this opinion today at the Business Monday. </p> <p> </p> <p> Roman Ivachev, the head of the Department of Sports Projects Implementation of the Executive Committee, reported on the main results of the last World Cup. Kazan hosted 6 World Cup matches, their average attendance was 42408 people. Residents and guests of Kazan were lucky to see the games of the most titled teams. Even if the national team did not play in the city, the fans could see the best football players of the world: Antoine Grismann, Killian Mbagpe, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta, Radamel Falcao, Hames Rodriguez, Robert Lewandowski, Toni Kroos, Marco Royce, Eden Azar, Leonel Messi, Neimar, and Philippe Coutinho. In total, 19 goals were scored in Kazan. </p> <p> </p> <p> Gianni Infantino, the President of the FIFA, Guirao Cabrera, the minister of Education of Spain, Hisako Takamado, a  Japanese Princess, Nicolas Sarkozy, a former French President, Gerhard Schroeder, a former German Chancellor, as well as other politicians and many legendary footballers such as Ronaldo, Diego Maradona, Thierry Henry, and Javier Zanetti attended the matches in Kazan. </p> <p> </p> <p> “Kazan will always remain in the history of football, as the city where the system of the video assistant of the arbitrator was used during the match France – Australia for the first time in the world championship”, said the speaker. </p> <p> </p> <p> During the championship, more than 300 thousand tourists visited Kazan, and most of them became guests at the Fan Festival, which took place on the site in front of the Family Center “Kazan”. Roman Ivachev said that the peak load of the Fan Festival was recorded during the match “Russia-Croatia”. On July 7, about 31 thousand people visited the site. The speaker reminded that in addition to broadcasting football matches, the site had interactive zones and a concert program. </p> <p> </p> <p> 67 points of food and beverage sales functioned as part of the organization of food on the Fan Festival site and in accordance with the requirements of FIFA. The most popular dishes were hot dogs, French fries and tomato tortillas with chicken and cheese. Also, the guests at the Fan Fest drank about 110,000 cans of beer. “Approximately, the visitors of the Fan Fest drank about 100,000 liters of beer and ate about 70-80 tons of food”, said R. Ivachev. He added that over 30 thousand guests served the Kazan Fan Fest daily. 500 people from the organizing committee and 220 volunteers worked on the site for this purpose. </p> <p> </p> <p> In general, 2500 volunteers helped to conduct the championship, including 250 nonresident and foreign volunteers. </p> <p> </p> <p> Free public transport was organized in Kazan during the World Cup 2018 for spectators with tickets on match days, as well as for persons included in FIFA lists. During the time, about 225 thousand passengers with tickets for the match were transported, 4030 electronic tickets were issued to accredited persons, over 170 thousand trips were made, said the speaker. </p> <p> </p> <p> In total, 21.8 million passengers were transported by city passenger transport in Kazan during the world championship matches. About 400 buses, 20 three-section trams, and 10 trolleybuses were involved in the transporting of spectators after the end of each match. </p> <p> </p> <p> R. Ivachev also noted that the rolling stock was renewed as part of the preparations for the World Championship in Kazan. In addition, uniforms for drivers and conductors have been updated. </p> <p> </p> <p> Preparations for the World Cup allowed Kazan to implement large-scale projects to improve the city: repair 39 roads, 83 city streets, 14 sidewalks, create new public spaces, and much more. All this affected the image of the capital of Tatarstan and contributed to the development of the city, said Denis Kalinkin, the head of the Executive Committee. “Kazan received the smallest financing since we had practically the entire infrastructure. Nevertheless, we managed to carry out a number of important projects. This is the complete transformation of the territory near the Family Center “Kazan”, the embankment of Kaban Lake, and the upgrading of highways”, said D. Kalinkin. “We have been preparing for a long time. And this is not a show-off, as some people think, but a very difficult work on the reputation of the city. It requires huge efforts and it is very important for the development of Kazan”. </p> <p> The legacy left for the city after the championship is just the material objects. According to D. Kalinkin, no less important is the fact that the inhabitants of the whole world learned about the capital of Tatarstan. “The championship days will soon become a legend. We are unlikely to see something of the same scale in the near future. And it is very important that all of us were not just spectators, but the participants and organizers of this largest event on the planet. We now have even more experience in organizing major international events”. </p> <p> Denis Kalinkin noted that the successful holding of the World Cup was the result of the close cooperation of city structures with the government of the republic, the country, and employees of FIFA. The head of the Executive Committee thanked for the help and support of the citizens, volunteers, and everyone who contributed to the organization of the championship: employees of service organizations, transport enterprises, law enforcement agencies, entrepreneurs, utilities, and all others. </p>

2018-07-16T11:00:37+0300