Cherkizovsky Market, which was closed earlier this week for sanitary and storage violations, will reopen Friday morning, a source at the Federal Consumer Protection Service said.

“The market will open [Friday] at 6 a.m.,” the source said, RIA-Novosti reported.

The watchdog’s Moscow office would not confirm the report. “We don’t comment on Cherkizovsky. Talk to the management at Cherkizovsky,” a spokesperson said by telephone Thursday.

The market’s web site has been down for the past several weeks.

On Wednesday, a City Hall official said the sprawling market was being “thoroughly cleaned” and would reopen after an inspection by the consumer protection service, although he also said Cherkizovsky would not stay open past December.

The market became embroiled in controversy last month after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized government officials for not obtaining convictions connected to a massive haul of contraband seized last year.