After over four years of the launch of the project, the Chisinau Arena is to be inaugurated on December 24. On this occasion, the Ukrainian band Okean Elzy will give a concert, IPN reports.

“Dear fans of the band Okean Elzy from Moldova and the neighboring countries, we inform you that our concert in Chisinau as part of the tour “Help for Ukraine” will be held on December 24, 2022. This is not an ordinary performance as it is given on the occasion of the long-awaited opening of a new arena in Chisinau. We want to sincerely thank the fans who waited for the concert of the band Okean Elzy in Chisinau for over a year and didn’t ask for a refund for the tickets to the September 2021 performance that was rescheduled owing to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the band posted on Facebook.

Four years ago, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research as the public partner and SRL “Arena Națională” as the public implementation company signed a public-private partnership contract for the construction of the arena with the private company SRL ”Sam Investment Company”.

The Chisinau Arena situated in Stăuceni commune of the municipality of Chisinau has a capacity of at most 5,000 places and areas for sports and cultural activities, training grounds, an Olympic swimming pool, a tennis club, spaces for exhibitions, conferences and meetings. The authorities for several times put off the Arena inauguration date. The prosecutors started a criminal case over the alleged illegalities committed when implementing the public-private partnership, but there is no end result yet.