Russia suggested in November 2006 holding the 2012 summit on Russky Island, to the south of Vladivostok in Peter the Great Bay, which APEC approved last year. The summit will bring together the leaders of the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member states, which include economic giants China and the United States, and cumulatively account for about half of the global economy.
"Expenditure on preparing Vladivostok for the APEC summit remains the same," Nikolai Ashlapov said. "This was repeatedly confirmed by the prime minister and the minister of regional development."
He said a total of 284 billion rubles ($10.4 billion) had been earmarked for the preparations, including 202 billon rubles ($7.4 billion) from the federal budget, adding that some of the arrangements had not been initially planned.
He said additional costs had been set at 67 billion rubles ($2.4 billion), mostly needed for the construction of power generating facilities and roads.
"Given today's [global financial] crisis, these additional funds will not be allocated. The prime minister and the president told us to find the funding due to a decline in the cost of construction materials as well as to streamline work to find funds within the subprograms," the official said.
As a result, Ashlapov added, the amount of extra costs could be reduced to 25 billion rubles ($910 million).
