Zenit-Arena will be one of the venues for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Dmitry Medvedev learned about the construction works and plans on erecting new stadiums for the World Cup. Fifteen stadiums in Moscow, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don are to be built or reconstructed for the event.

Dmitry Medvedev had already visited the Zentit-Arena as president in May 2010. The head of the government noted that the construction had basically not progressed at all in the last two years. "This is not just some neverending construction project," Dmitry Medvedev said addressing the city's officials.

The prime minister demanded that St Petersburg authorities and other parties involved should design a scheme to further finance the project. He said that the federal authorities are not ready to assist without proper grounds. "It's wrong just to say 'Give me more money,' " the prime minister stressed. Dmitry Medvedev reported that he had signed a government directive on conducting design and survey works for the construction of stadiums for the 2018 World Cup, noting that such works had already been completed in St Petersburg and that the city would not receive federal finds for that item.

The construction of the new arena started in St Petersburg in 2007 on the site of the legendary Kirov Stadium on Krestovsky Island. The stadium is to become a multi-purpose A class soccer arena of the top category with the capability to host FIFA and UEFA football matches all year round.