Russia cutting 2018 World Cup budget by scrapping luxury hotels

Published Apr. 7, 2015 1:47 p.m. ET

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MOSCOW -- Russia's sports minister says the budget for the 2018 World Cup is being cut by four percent by scrapping luxury hotels that might otherwise lie empty after the tournament.

The move would reduce the total cost from 664 billion rubles ($12 billion) to 637.6 billion, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told Russian news agency Tass, adding that ''we don't want elite hotels ... to end up out of demand after the World Cup.''

Mutko said 25 hotels would be cut from the organizers' program across the 11 host cities.

As these hotels were to have been funded by regional government or by companies, Mutko said the savings will not reduce spending by the federal government on the tournament.

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