‘Yekaterinburg-Expo is a difficult project to complete. No one has ever put up such big buildings here before. All the calculations have been done. The budget is finalized. The customer has all the money. The calculations related to most of the contractors are also finished. So some routine technical work is under way. A lot of public attention is always paid to such large-scale projects, so some smooth team work is needed here,’ Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Misharin said in his interview to Oblastnaya Gazeta.

‘Sadly, there occurred a clash between the contractors and the customer there. Following the examination by a board of state-run experts who confirmed that we were right, the parties came to an agreement. I am told the problem no longer exists. So everyone needs to draw on this lesson: no one will be allowed to introduce higher prices for this or that kind of service for no good reason, because we are dealing with the budget money here, and having control over how it is spent is a sine qua non of any contract. On the other hand, the customer must look very carefully into the quality of contractors’ work and, if the terms of the agreement have been violated, bear financial responsibility for the quality of the construction jobs,’ the official added.

‘The second section of the building is being designed at the moment. This building will house a hotel. Tenders will be organized soon, and the construction will continue next year,’ Misharin said.