Very limited’ impact of World Cup on Russia’s economy

While the World Cup that kicks off later this month will focus the attention of football fans around the world on Russia it will have little impact on the country’s economy, analysts at Moody’s rating agency have said.

“The impact is likely to be even lower than that of the Sochi Olympic games, which developed an under-built resort area that is more accessible than many of the regions where the World Cup will be staged,” it said. Nevertheless, Moody’s said those regions would still derive some economic benefit from the investments. The report also found “food retailers, hotels, telecoms, and transport will see a temporary boost in revenue” from the World Cup. The construction sector was the main beneficiary of investment, but this has already been completed.