With days to go until the start of the Fifa World Cup, Alexei Merkushkin is hoping to turn a city that most Russians have never heard of into a global investment destination. Business delegations from Japan, Denmark and Iran are travelling to Saransk, capital of the swampy province of Mordovia. Japan is sending a princess. Even Gérard Depardieu, the French actor who became an official resident of Saransk when President Vladimir Putin gave him a Russian passport, may make an appearance. "The world is looking at us. This will have a real economic effect on our investment climate," said Merkushkin, who is heading Saransk's preparations. After surviving the scandals of the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, Russia's preparations for football's biggest tournament are largely on schedule. Out-of-the-way host cities such as Saransk, best known for its prisons and its central role in a race-walking doping scandal, are keen to benefit. Merkushkin said it was chosen ahead of other cities thanks t...
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