Russian authorities "want to use prison labor to drive down the costs of holding the 2018 World Cup," according to James Ellingworth of the AP.
The Russian prison service "is backing a bid by Alexander Khinshtein, a lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party, to allow prisoners to be taken from their camps to work at factories, with a focus on driving down the costs of building materials for World Cup projects." Khinshtein: "It'll help in the sense that there will be the opportunity to acquire building materials for a lower price, lower than there is currently on the market. And apart from that it'll make it possible to get prisoners into work, which is very positive."
Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service "has been working with Khinshtein to draw up the proposals, said the lawmaker, adding that they will be submitted to parliament soon." Deputy Dir Alexander Rudy told the Kommersant business newspaper that his agency "was keen to use prisoners for 'tasks that, let's say, wouldn't appeal to the ordinary citizen'" (AP, 5/25).
