The Federal Road Agency, or Rosavtodor, will spend 22.9 billion rubles ($673 million) between 2014 and 2016 on repairing key roads in time for the FIFA World Cup in 2018, the agency said in an online statement.
The funding will come from the government as part of a federal investment program for Russia's transportation system and will be spread out over six regions and St. Petersburg, according to the statement published Wednesday.
Roads servicing airports in the cities of Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Samara, Saransk and Volgograd, all of which will host World Cup matches, are to be rebuilt or improved, as are highways in hosting regions Kaliningrad and Rostov.
First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said last year that the government would spend at least 250 billion ($7.2 billion) rubles overall on preparations for the tournament, including sprucing up transportation infrastructure.
Russia spent more than $50 billion — five times more than initial estimates — on revamping infrastructure in the country's south leading up to the Sochi Winter Olympics in February this year.
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