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In North Ossetia, a criminal investigation is underway into multi-million ruble embezzlement during the four-year reconstruction of the republic's main stadium. During this time, billions of budget funds were embezzled, and the prosecutor's office believes that the abuse of power by the head of the capital construction department resulted in 200 million rubles in losses. Throughout the years, the project has been plagued by delays in construction, poor quality work, a shortage of specialists, and inadequate funding. Due to the protracted renovation of Spartak Stadium, where the Alania football club plays its home games, the team has already missed several opportunities to compete for promotion to the Russian top league.

NeMoskva decided to trace the chronology of statements and promises related to the reconstruction and tell how the stadium, which hosted legendary matches involving Liverpool, Atlético Madrid, and Glasgow Rangers in the 90s, turned into an endless, protracted construction project.

About the history of Spartak 

Spartak Stadium in Vladikavkaz was built in 1962 and, until 2020, could accommodate up to 38 people. The arena was the ninth-largest in Russia and the largest in southern Russia. Football in Ossetia has always been more than just a game, so the stadium, which holds thousands of fans, was rarely full. For fans, it was a special place where dreams came true, especially in the 90s—the golden age of Ossetian football. 

Every match in the '90s packed the stadium to capacity. Back then, football was a national outlet, and Vladikavkaz was a football magnet. Fans flocked to us from all over the republics, including Georgia. — Alexander, a fan from Vladikavkaz, shares with NeMoskva. — Channel One was broadcasting matches of the international tournament taking place in Vladikavkaz back then. That's because football of that level wasn't available in any other Russian city at the time. Football was a true celebration for people. I remember my life going from Saturday to Saturday, that is, from one match to the next. Seeing one of the Alania players was like something out of outer space.. 

During this period, Spartak was a model stadium, with which few Russian clubs could compete. Back then, Russia didn't have modern stadiums, and the pitches resembled vegetable gardens. In Ossetia, however, the emerald turf was laid from Austria. 

In 1999, the Russian national football team was scheduled to play a match against Andorra in Vladikavkaz, but due to the recent terrorist attack in the city (an explosion at the city's central market on March 19, killing 52 people), the game was cancelled for security reasons. This match would have been the national team's first played outside the capital's arena. 

History was made here for the republic. In 1995, Alania broke the hegemony of Moscow's Spartak and became the first non-Moscow team to win the Russian championship under the leadership of Valery Gazzaev.

The North Ossetian team won silver in the Russian championship twice—in 1992 and 1996. These victories in the national championship allowed the red-and-yellows to participate in the European Champions Cup (now the Champions League) and the UEFA Cup. Such giants as Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, and Glasgow Rangers have all played at Spartak Stadium. 

Every match against Spartak Moscow is a unique story for the red-and-yellows [Alania's colors]. One of the two outstanding matches played at our stadium was against them in 1995. We had a team made up of players of 13 nationalities. We were heading for the championship in the Russian top league, but Lokomotiv was rapidly closing the gap, so we absolutely had to beat Spartak, who at that point had a 100% record in the Champions League, having even beaten the English champions., - Alexander continues. -  And it was such a game, which I've never seen since. The tension was literally in the air; 44 spectators were rooting for Alania. The intensity of the match was so high that the referee showed four red cards. Our team took to the field with one goal—to win. In the first half, they pounded every goalpost, the stadium was in a frenzy, but the ball wouldn't go in. Spartak, one of the strongest clubs in Europe, didn't even think about attacking. Unfortunately, the match ended 1-1. The Muscovites were overjoyed like children at taking a point from Vladikavkaz. For us, it was a tough match; it felt like the championship was slipping away from us, and everyone was upset. In terms of tension, the quality of football on display, and the level of dedication, I rank this match first among all I've seen in my life.

From 1994 to 1996, the region annually hosted the prestigious international tournament for the North Ossetia-Alania Republic President's Cup, attracting teams from Brazil, Italy (Genoa), Spain (Atlético), France, Portugal, and Germany. In 1995, the tournament was added to the calendar.

This football festival was made possible, in large part, by the republic's first president, Akhsarbek Galazov, who was a huge fan of the number one game, as well as the abolition of the state monopoly on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages in the country, which brought in large sums of money to the republic. 

However, NeMoskva's interlocutor believes that the success of Ossetian football was made possible not only by uninterrupted funding. 

It's a shame, When people say the 1995 championship was a "vodka championship," that's usually said by people who didn't go to the matches., - the Ossetian fan believes. - Yes, vodka money was a factor in that triumph; the republic did indeed spend a lot on football, but why are we humiliating our own players, thanks to whom we won?! Give Alania's players millions now, and will they even play? They won't! But back then, we had players like Kasymov, who was a magician on the field, his praises were sung! Our graduates—Pagayev, Dzhioyev, and Tedeyev—played so brilliantly thanks to vodka money?! Everyone feared Inal Dzhioyev, including national team captain Onopko. The skill of the players made Alania champions, and, of course, so did the fans. Back then, the entire stadium plunged the opponent into an atmosphere of hell, and by the time the opponent took the field, they were practically lost due to such pressure from the stands. Back then, the stadium truly was the 12th team.. 

In the 90s, the stadium underwent a couple of minor modernizations, including an increase in capacity. In early 1998, Galazov was replaced as the regional governor by a man with no connection to football. As a result, attitudes toward football changed, and the stadium became dogged by negative connotations. 

Thus, in 2012-2013, the football club's management pledged the Spartak stadium to a commercial bank, receiving a 125 million ruble loan in return. In 2015, the Arbitration Court of the North Caucasus District ruled the transaction illegal, and the property was returned to the republic's ownership. 

Without financial injections, the stadium continued to deteriorate, and two stands have been out of use for the past 10 years. In 2020, reconstruction began under a state program. However, after the demolition, which cost 170 million rubles, it was discovered that the stadium had been demolished illegally, as the organization that declared it unsafe did not have the appropriate licenses, and the act under which the structure was demolished did not comply with legal requirements. The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU was the first to report this. The prosecutor's office initiated an inspection, but the outcome remains unknown. Later, the republic's Ministry of Construction stated, that the demolition was carried out by an accredited laboratory and all work was carried out legally.

For the first stage of the reconstruction, 1 billion 764 million rubles were allocated from the federal and republican budgets. Two companies, Irstone LLC and Farn CJSC, were awarded contracts for the work. Both companies are associated with Vladimir Guriev, the owner of FC Alania and an Ossetian millionaire from Krasnoyarsk. His son, Danil, the club's vice president, owns Guriati LLC, which is one of Irstone's founders. Farn is also associated with the Guriev family in the republic, but there is no definitive confirmation of this. 

It's worth noting that the stadium's original design called for a reconstruction, but in reality, everything was demolished—the stands, administrative buildings, utilities, and the work turned into a full-fledged construction site. The stadium's design was never presented to the public; only photographs of the future facility were shown. Many fans disliked the proposed design, particularly the reduction in capacity to 15,000. However, officials explained that this was due to RFU requirements. In addition to the new stands, pitch renovation, and administrative buildings, the authorities announced the installation of four checkpoints, including a visitor's checkpoint, three storage lockers, three ticket offices, and four mini-football pitches. 

Below we provide a timeline of events and official statements surrounding the stadium, almost every stage of whose construction has been accompanied by scandals and problems.

In August 2019 years The then Minister of Construction and Architecture, Taimuraz Kasayev, for the first time voiced  The completion date for the reconstruction of Spartak stadium is 2021. 

In May of the same year, the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports Vladimir Gabulov сообщилthat the facility will accommodate 15-17 thousand people. 

In July 2020 years from the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports Alan Khugaev  sounded There is already other information about the stadium's capacity - more than 30 thousand fans. 

A year after construction began, the regional leader who had initiated the Spartak modernization was replaced. People began to realize that the work was dragging on and began to question the new authorities. 

In December, the 2021 The head of North Ossetia, Sergei Menyailo, spoke for the first time during a direct line explained The reasons for the delays in the reconstruction project. According to him, the initial design did not meet RFU requirements, and Alania was unable to qualify for the Russian Premier League, necessitating reclassification as a Category I facility. He then suggested that "the work could possibly" be completed by the fall of 2022. 

In April it became is knownthat the completion date for the Spartak stadium was changed due to changes in the design and estimate documentation.

At the same time, the head of the region asked the federal center for additional funds. promised billion. 

In June Sergey Menyailo instructed involve student construction teams in the reconstruction of the stadium so that "the work does not stop." 

In August The head of the republic attended an Alania match in Grozny, where the Ossetian team has been forced to play its home matches for four years now. One of the fans shouted out I asked about the stadium's readiness and received an answer from Menyailo: next summer. 

Since then, the expression has become a meme about broken promises. 

In November The second phase of the stadium's reconstruction has begun. The republic's Minister of Construction and Architecture, Konstantin Morgoev, reported that "a quarter of the planned work" has been completed. By the end of the year, planned provide 45% of the construction project is complete. 

In September Sergei Menyailo instructed the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and the Ministry of Construction to "take special care" of the Spartak reconstruction and to ensure "timely and full advance payments to contractors, whose workers should not be idle due to a lack of funding." He also noted that funds for these purposes have been allocated and are "flowing smoothly." In total, according to him, 2 billion 875 rubles are planned for the construction of the stadium. 

In November Konstantin Morgoev сообщил He told journalists that Spartak would have a 12,600-seat capacity, although 14,600 had previously been announced. He explained the stadium's capacity reduction by "modern safety standards." He stated that a stadium with a capacity of more than 15,000 people cannot be built on this site. 

In April An incident occurred at the site, which delayed construction work again. While pouring concrete, workers violated the installation procedure, causing the East Stand to deform, and work was suspended. They had to wait for the concrete to harden before removing it. At that time, Morgoev reported about 60% of the facility's readiness.

True, a month later at a press conference he said  about the arena's "construction readiness approaching 50%." 

In May During Sergei Menyailo's press conference, the stadium issue came up again. "We will complete this important facility. And we will do everything to ensure the team's athletic achievements earn it a ticket to the Premier League," wrote  He's on his Telegram channel.

In June At the next press conference, the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of the Republic, Soslan Kochiev predicted The next commissioning date is 2023. 

Then стало известно about funding issues and plans to take out a special treasury loan from the federal budget, which will cover almost 40% of the cost of the work. 

In August to complete the reconstruction of Spartak Stadium singled out more than 1,2 billion rubles. 

In September Menyailo сообщил There was a shortage of concrete workers and masons. At the time, work was underway in the sub-stands, installing utility lines. "We're literally having to untangle the tasks manually. Sometimes the design changes, sometimes there's no cement, sometimes there's no specialists. We're struggling. We'll find the specialists and finish the construction," the regional governor wrote. He added that he'd asked his "construction friends" from Siberia for help.  

In October he voiced the next deadline for the completion of the stadium reconstruction is May 15 2024 year. He announced that the first game at the new arena would be held in the second half of July or early August of the same year. 

In November Konstantin Morgoev (already being Menyailo's advisor) сообщил Journalists were told that all rough work on the stadium was supposed to be completed this year. At that time, construction workers were digging a pit for the field. 

In January Menyailo wrote Spartak Stadium is 66% complete. He toured the site with Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin. Fan skepticism continued to grow on social media.

In March Menyailo сообщил TASS reported that the stadium's "global" reconstruction is expected to be completed by August of this year, when the first match will take place. He assured that the reconstruction is proceeding according to plan. 

In April It has become known that Alania was unable to apply for a license to participate in the Russian Premier League due to the stadium's unpreparedness. 

In May found out New circumstances emerged that could impact the commissioning timeline. Lighting fixtures for the stadium cost 30 million rubles, but they did not meet television standards.

The stadium's May completion date, announced by Menyailo, also fell through. A few days before the projected date, Alania head coach Evgeny Kaleshin said about the new completion date of the works - August-November 2024.

However, the first game did not take place in either August or November.

In October the prosecutor's office became interested in the situation, said There was a "real threat" of delays in the construction of the Spartak stadium. Timur Dzitoev, acting head of the republic's capital construction department (the project's client), was issued a warning and an inspection was launched due to price increases and repeated construction deadline extensions. 

At the end of the month, supervisors have revealed Multimillion-ruble fraud during stadium construction. A criminal case was opened against the head of North Ossetia's capital construction department for abuse of office, resulting in damages exceeding 200 million rubles. The prosecutor's office also filed a lawsuit in arbitration court seeking to invalidate the state contract for the reconstruction of Spartak Stadium, dated November 28, 2022, and all additional agreements, due to an unjustified increase in the contract price and a delay in the stadium's completion date.

But in the Criminal Code there are charges refuted, stating that the contract was concluded legally and that the increase in its cost was allowed “within the limits of budgetary funds through the redistribution of funds.”

Fans fear that this will put the stadium's construction on hold. The prosecutor's office clarifies that the security imposed following the inspection is not related to the suspension of work. 

A NeMoskva source, an Alania fan, believes the stadium will be completed sooner or later, as it's easier to finish the work than to stop it. However, he believes there will be no one to play there, as Ossetian football has lost many generations of its players. He considers the current situation the worst in the history of Ossetian football. 

If there's no one to play, there'll be no one to watch football. Because Ossetian football has lost its most important asset—the spectators, and football without them isn't football anymore. For the next 10 years, we can forget about packed stands until a new generation is born." , says Alexander. But there are currently no suitable conditions for their development, as the protracted construction has forced the young footballers to train in cramped quarters. For four years now, they've been forced to train on the grounds of the Yunost Sports School.

Fifteen hundred children train on a single field, divided into four sections. How will a footballer see the field under such conditions, how will they learn to pass 60-70 meters? How can we compete with other schools? Basically, we haven't been producing skilled footballers for a long time due to the lack of conditions and infrastructure., Alexander states.

Speaking about the success of Ossetian football in the 90s, he believes that many factors came together: a strong generation of players, people who invested in football, and fans—it all came together. No matter how much money is invested in football now, "it won't work like that anymore."

As of early December, work on the stadium is ongoing. The administrative building, east and west stands, and checkpoints have been erected. However, the main pitch has not yet been laid, nor have the training pitches for the Spartak-Alania youth school students who train there. The area around the stadium is also not landscaped.

It's unknown when construction will be completed; winter is coming, but in Vladikavkaz they're hoping it will definitely be next summer!