Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is confident that holding the 2018 Soccer World Cup in Russia will give a powerful boost to infrastructure development in the European part of Russia.
An employee of an oil research center in Tyumen asked the Prime Minister if Putin's own good fortune contributed to the decision of international sports committees to hold the Winter Olympics of 2014 and the Soccer World Cup in 2018 in Russia.
"Are you really such a fortunate person?" the young man asked. "Yes," Mr Putin replied without hesitation to draw applause from the audience.
"Seriously: good luck works only for those who work really hard themselves. One must work, contact people, show respect for them, prove our consistency, and do it aggressively, but tactfully," Mr Putin said about the secret of success, adding that the country had been fortunate so far and expressed hope that it would continue to be so in the future.
"There will be no large-scale infrastructure project (like the one in Sochi), but, nevertheless, there should be great work for the development of road networks, airport facilities and railway stations," he said
"And if we can make a good programme — and there are proposals for the development of high-speed rail traffic among all of these cities or part of those cities — it will be a powerful boost to the development of the entire infrastructure of the European part of the country," said the former KGB member.
"This is certainly a great strength, let alone the development of sports infrastructures, the stadiums, and training sites — all this will be inherited by people and will be working for them for decades. It will enhance a healthy lifestyle, it will help ensure that young people go in for sports. They will have places where this can be done at the current level," said the former President.
"Ultimately, this will cause a comprehensive, positive, extremely positive impact on the future of the country," he continued, adding that he was confident that the country would play host "in a decent way."