Discussing the Samara cycling opening in 2013 (a huge column of 1,000 cyclists gathered), the forums wrote outrages about why there were no police escorts cars. Answer from one of the organs:

A few years ago, we asked to allocate two escort cars for the opening. The official answer was 10 thousand rubles per crew, free only if they are VIPs or children.
After that discovery, I saw a crossroads on the road in the Dubkov area, with three crew escorts. I don’t know if they’re kids or VIPs.