Bloggers and social media users in Krasnoyarsk reported earlier this week that local officials made a special effort to clean up the city ahead of a visit by President Putin, according to Newsru.com, citing local media.
“Trucks delivered clean snow to Krasnoyarsk,” Twitter user Andrei Maximov wrote on Tuesday, quoting a local radio station.
The report also says the smog that has regularly covered the city for the past 20 days suddenly disappeared before Putin arrived. The same thing happened last year, right before Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited the city for the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum.
Utility companies reportedly redoubled their snow-clearing efforts, washed some of the streets, and even re-parked some cars, in order to give parking spaces a better appearance. Gardeners apparently trimmed the grass, where it was visible. One of the cafes in the city center also reportedly changed the advertisement on its LED display to read, “Putin is our president!”