Russia’s fourth-largest city and football World Cup tournament host Yekaterinburg has announced an $80,000 tender this week for cleaning equipment to prepare for the championship, three months after it ended.
Located east of the Ural Mountains, Yekaterinburg was the easternmost of 11 cities to host the World Cup and staged a total of four games, all of them in June. The 2018 World Cup ended on July 15, when France defeated Croatia 3-1 in the final.
Three entries appeared on the government procurement website Tuesday announcing auctions for street washers “in Yekaterinburg’s preparation for World Cup matches in 2018.”
The total value of the three contracts is estimated at 5.5 million rubles ($82,350), with required deliveries of equipment by Dec. 14.
Yekaterinburg’s city hall told the Znak.com website Wednesday that the new tender is legal because regional-budget subsidies allow procurement before, during and after the World Cup.
“We purchased 42 units of equipment for the championship, now we’re buying 17 more to maintain football-related infrastructure,” city hall was quoted as saying.
The initial auction ahead of the World Cup was canceled due to a lack of bids, the mayor’s office told the RBC news website.
It said the new bid mentions the football tournament because “we’re using the same documents.”
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