CHEBOKSARY, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - All the organizational issues regarding the winter Universiade, scheduled to take place in the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk in 2019 have already been settled, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Thursday.
"I'm very glad that we had begun this work well in advance. All the organizational issues regarding the preparations have been resolved, and the Organization Committee headed by [Russian First Deputy Prime Minister] Igor Shuvalov has been created. The main concept has been developed and the program and schedule has been approved," Mutko said.
The Russian Sports Minister added that Russia has allocated about 600 million rubles ($15 million) from the federal budget for the preparations for the Student Games, including the construction and renovation of sporting facilities and the infrastructure and that the project will be co-financed from the regional budget.
"We will begin the construction in 2016 and hope to finish the work by 2018," the Minister said, noting that the construction of some infrastructure projects has already begun.
On Thursday, during the International Forum “Russia: A Sports Power”, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and the Krasnoyarsk-2019 Executive Directorate have signed an agreement on acceptance of the obligations on the organization of the 2019 Winter Universiade.
The Universiade, also referred to as the World Student Games or World University Games is an international multi-sport event for university athletes. In 2013 Russia held the summer Universiade in Kazan.
