Yekaterinburg did not make the list of Russian cities with the highest pre-New Year spending.

      Yekaterinburg did not appear on RTVI’s list of major Russian cities that spent large sums on their New Year decorations.

      To assess municipalities’ New Year expenditures, RTVI, together with the TenderSkop project, examined the EIS “Goszakupki.”

      According to the outlet’s infographic, for the third year in a row St. Petersburg spent the most on these purposes. RTVI says more than 1.2 billion rubles will be spent decorating the northern capital. By comparison, Moscow decorated itself this year for 414 million rubles, Chelyabinsk for 63 million rubles.

      Yekaterinburg is not mentioned on the list at all. That there will be no lavish celebrations in Yekaterinburg this New Year was confirmed during his direct line by the head, Alexey Orlov.

      At the expense of the local budget, the authorities have arranged several New Year sites in the city, opened an ice rink on 1905 Square and are preparing to open an ice town in the Historical Square on December 30, writes Kommersant-Ural.

      Earlier, city duma deputies criticized the city authorities for the high cost of the summer site on 1905 Square. “Summer on the Square” cost the city treasury almost twice as much as the ice town. Later, Mayor Alexey Orlov explained that a considerable sum had been spent on purchasing equipment, and in 2026 the costs for this city project should be lower.