St. Petersburg governor tours stadiums

St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko has vetoed the program of reconstruction and building of athletic facilities, adopted by the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg. “The law isn’t bad, but this program looks like wishful thinking. It’s necessary to really consider the possibilities of the city budget.” Matvienko made the announcement during her trip on Saturday to “problematic” sports complexes in St. Petersburg. The St. Petersburg legislature approved 3 million rubles in financing for the development of city sports facilities. The Governor meanwhile believes that “This is not within the capability of the city budget. We have to define our priorities for 2004, 2005, and 2006, and the amount of money needed for these prioroties.”

Valentina Matvienko thinks that the city is in need of multi-functional sports complexes i.e. light-gauge constructions of standard design, rather than expensive and pompous ones. She has also ordered existing sports facilities to be renovated.

The program, for which the city government is responsible, will contain not only financing from the city budget but also financing of investment resources. The program should be accepted within the next two months.

News source: www.dp.ru