Kommersant: “How the Prime Minister saved sportscClubs”
Background
By mid 2009 Tom football club, which lost its major sponsor Tomskneft in 2006, was on the verge of bankruptcy. On July 16, 2009 Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin held a meeting on the club's problems in Moscow, with Tomsk Region Governor Viktor Kress in attendance. On July 20, 2009 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met the club's management and it was announced that seven companies (Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, Alliance Group, Sibur, Transneft, Inter RAO UES and MRSK holding) would provide Tom football club with 315 million roubles of financial assistance. On May 24, 2010 Vladimir Putin and Viktor Kress again discussed the problems of sponsorship; the meeting gave hope that the sponsorship agreements with the seven companies would be extended for a further three years.
In February 2010, due to its considerable debts, the football club Krylya Sovetov faced losing its Russian Football Union license. On February 17, 2010 at a meeting chaired by Vladimir Putin, Igor Sechin presented a list of 20 potential sponsors for Krylya Sovetov, which included Rosneft, Transneft, Mezhregiongaz, Sibur and Novatek. On February 19, 2010 Krylya Sovetov was allowed to participate in the Russian championships, having provided the Russian Football Union with sponsors' guarantees.
Olga Shkurenko
