@ult do you know if sanctions currently have any impacts in the arena constructions (missing materials, delays etc.)? I remember hearing that Sibir’s new arena was delayed at first but I haven’t heard anything else regarding the other arenas.
Of course there were some delays due to the changes in contractors and suppliers. For example large scale, very tall glass used in the skyscrapers and stadiums was mostly imported, or some interior parts were sourced from the west, like premium seats for example. The good thing is that those are not critical or hard to replace, so those issues were mostly resolved by now. As for LED screens and other electronics those were mostly from China, so no problems there.
All in all, as with pretty much everything else, those sanctions are just some additional hurdles that must be overcome through some middlemen.
Sibir was trailing their schedule way before any sanctions. So for them it's just a convenient excuse. They had to start heating their arena before the winter of 2021-22, but they missed that deadline by about 5 months. They are trying to catch up to schedule since then.