Russia World Cup Notebook - Day 9

Children play football on a bank of the Volga river in front of the Volgograd arena, a venue of the Russia 2018 World Cup tournament, on June 20, 2018, in Volgograd. PHOTO | PHILIPPE DESMAZES |

Meet Lada, Russia’s own Nyayo Pioneer

******

Many Kenyans are familiar with Nyayo Pioneer, the Kenyan car manufactured locally in 1986. The Russian version is called Lada, manufactured by Russian company AvtoVAZ (known simply as VAZ) in Russia since 1970. VAZ is the largest car manufacturer in Russia.

Italy and the Soviet Union teamed up to set up AvtoVAZ along the banks of Volga River in 1966 in response to growing need for personal transport.
But Lada is not popular among locals. Fruit vendors here sell their wares from the back of old but functioning Lada cars.

Expensive toys in Moscow streets

*****
Russians spend big on expensive cars. Russians may have ideological, political and economic differences with Western European countries, but their love for cars from these countries is easily noticeable. Three out of five cars in the streets of Moscow are high-end European fuel guzzlers.

The locally-made Lada car has positioned itself as a simple, affordable car with an unpretentious functionality, yet it is a rare sight in the streets of Moscow. Latest models of European cars like Mercedes Benz, BMW, Range Rover, Audi, Chrysler, Peugeot and Porsche rule Moscow roads.

River Volga flows via four host cities

******
Europe’s longest river, the Volga River, originates in Valdai Hills, north east of Moscow and flows through four of the 11 cities hosting the 2018 Fifa World Cup.

It flows some 3,688km and snakes through Russian cities of Astrakhan, Volgograd where the 45-000-seater Volgograd Arena is, Saratov, Samara (home to 54-seater Samara Arena), Kazan (home to 45,000-seater Kazan Arena), Ulyanovsk, Nizhny Novgorod (home to 45,000-seater Nizhny Novgorod Stadium), Yaroslavl and Tver.

It freezes for most of its length for three months each year.

Hotels, beer price reasonable here

******

Fans who travelled to Kiev for 2018 Uefa Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool paid through the nose for accommodation as cost of hotel rooms went up by 100 per cent.

That has not been the case in Russian cities for 2018 Fifa World Cup. Hotels outside Moscow’s central business district charge anything from Sh15,000 a night, and the package includes bed and breakfast. A 500ml bottle of beer sells for 200 Rubles (Sh300), but the price depends on where one is buying it. A bottle of vodka retails at 300 Rubles (Sh500).