Locals advised not to drive their old rusty rattlers in Kazan during BRICS summit

In Kazan, employees of several companies were asked not to use their old cars during the days of the BRICS summit. People were also asked to minimize the use of personal cars, since "their old, rusty and excessively loud cars will tarnish the look of the city," 116.ru reports.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Ted.ns, CC BY-SA 4.0

According to an unnamed employee of one of the companies, the management suggested that employees should use public transport and leave their personal cars in garages or at least park them further away.

In addition, students of one of Kazan technical schools were advised not to drive their "rattlers with loud music on not to disgrace the city."

The BRICS summit will be held in Kazan on October 22-24. Students of city universities, colleges and technical schools will switch to distance learning during these days, whereas schools changed the dates of autumn school holidays as well.

According to updated information, though, "there is no ban on driving old cars and motorcycles" implemented, Vladimir Kazantsev, the head of the information and analytical department of the mayor's office said.

"As far as I know, there is no ban on driving old cars and motorcycles. We don't have such bans,” Kazantsev said.

Parents of preschoolers were advised not to take their children to kindergartens from October 21 to 25. Schools in the city will start autumn holidays earlier — from October 21 to 28. The Kazan Federal University also announced a two-week holiday time from October 17.

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Kazan is the largest city and capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of 425.3 square kilometres (164.2 square miles), with a population of over 1.3 million residents, and up to nearly 2 million residents in the greater metropolitan area. Kazan is the fifth-largest city in Russia, being the most populous city on the Volga, as well as within the Volga Federal District.