Construction companies involved in preparations for the APEC Summit 2012 have been fined about 14 million rubles (about $500,000) for illegally hiring foreign workers, the regional administration said Thursday.

The Primorye Territory Federal Migration Service fined a number of construction companies involved in the feverish preparations for the APEC Summit 2012 held in September in Russia's Primorye Territory for illegally hiring 12,000 foreign workers, including about 8,700 from neighboring countries.

Primorye Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky warned at a law enforcement meeting on Thursday that companies guilty of migration infractions could lose their quotas on hiring foreign workers.

The migration service said it checked "193 construction sites, drew up 1,074 administrative offense reports and imposed fines totaling more than 13.75 million rubles.”

So far the service has collected fines from those companies totaling 8.27 million rubles. It also deported 167 illegal foreign workers and reduced the terms of residence in Russia for 128 others, the statement said.