Moscow authorities have said they won't be using the services of Turkish citizens in the reconstruction of the capital's Luzhniki stadium following a decree to curb Turkish staff in revenge for the downing of a Russian jet.
Head of the capital's construction department Andrei Bochkarev told the Moskva city news agency on Thursday that a Turkish contractor had been involved in reconstruction work on the stadium but that their services would no longer be needed.
“They have completed their work, and in accordance with the law, in accordance with the decree by [President Vladimir Putin] we will try to complete the remaining work without the participation of Turkish companies,” he was cited as saying in the report.
Bochkarev said he had no complaints about Monart, the Turkish contractor, adding they had done “great work” but that “there was the question of realizing the order of the Russian president.”
The decree signed by Putin late last month approved a range of economic retaliatory measures against Turkey, including an import ban on a range of goods and restrictions on the employment of Turkish staff.
The measures were announced after Turkey downed a Russian Su-24 jet on the border with Syria, claiming it had violated its airspace. Russia denied the accusation and called the strike a “stab in the back.”
According to a tender published online this summer, up to 2.2 billion rubles ($39 million) have been set aside for the thorough revamp of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex ahead of Russia's hosting of the World Cup in 2018.
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