14:52 - 13.03.2025

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March 13, Fineko/abc.az. Projected capital expenditures for the construction of the Mirror Line (The Line) to be completed by about 2080, have increased up to $8.8 trillion (25-fold more than the annual budget of the kingdom itself), ABC.AZ reports, referring to The Wall Street Journal.

Worse, the audit report, which was made available to journalists, showed that officials were trying to rig the figures to hide evidence of inflated project costs.

The initial design assumed that the skyscraper would stretch 160 km across the desert, but this plan looks unlikely. Even the design of the first section of the skyscraper, which is due to be completed by 2034, was revised and its length was reduced from 16 to 2.4 km.

However, the recommendations to reduce the planned height of the skyscraper in order to save money caused a sharp rejection from the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud.