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Russian Sports Minister Vitaliy Mutko has expressed concern over the construction of two major stadiums for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

 "FIFA's inspection visits will becom more frequent; they have a tight control over this [preparation for the 2018 World Cup]. We and FIFA are concerned about two stadiums: St. Petersburg and Samara," Mutko said in an interview with Russia's Match TV. 

The stadiums in the two cities have been criticized for being too expensive. The estimated cost of Samara Arena has soared from $200 million to $300 million in just a year. St. Petersburg's Krestovsky stadium has been under constructon for eight years. It changed the general supplier in September 2016, less than a year before it's scheduled to host a 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup match. 

Samara will host five matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, including a quarterfinal. St. Petersburg will be the stage of a semi-final, the match for third place and five more matches.