Russia’s Sheremetyevo International Airport may fail to launch its 55.7 billion ruble third runway, in construction since 2011, before the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Vedomosti business daily reported on Thursday quoting a report of the Federal Air Transport Agency.
According to the report, the third runway was 55% finished as of the beginning of March, and the degree of readiness of its three taxiways ranges from 39% to 90%, making it impossible to finish them before the World Cup. It took too much time for the builders to settle issues with transfers of natural gas and oil pipelines from the construction site and litigate land purchases from local residents, Vedomosti reported.
The Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Oversight is also to inspect and certify the runway after its construction, meaning exploitation of the runway may be launched no earlier than in September 2018. A top manager of a large airport told the business daily that it would be great if Sheremetyevo launches the runway at least until the end of 2018.
There is also the risk that Domodedovo International Airport may fail to launch its 12.85 billion ruble second runway in time for the World Cup despite its 80% degree of readiness. The contractor of the runway’s construction was announced bankrupt in 2016 and has no money to finish work as it is difficult for the company to raise working capital, the service said in the report.
A government official told Vedomosti that it is impossible to find a new contractor for a facility in that high degree of readiness, so the contractor will finish its work, but only after the World Cup.
The agency, Sheremetyevo, and Sheremetyevo’s runway contractor Transstroymekhanizatsiya declined to comment, while a representative of Domodedovo said that the airport issued corresponding rulings after the Transport Ministry’s meeting that discussed the report of the Federal Air Transport Agency.











