And what Bernie Ecclestone and his companion, Fabiana, could have been thinking
Yesterday Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with the legendary Bernie Ecclestone, owner of Formula One racing. The pair were together in Sochi for the signing of a contract that will give extensive race-hosting rights to Sochi's Olympic Park. Meanwhile, Kommersant special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov tried to figure out what was transpiring between Mr Ecclestone and his companion, Fabiana.
Before the ceremonial contract signing, I talked with Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov. He was surprised when I asked him why the government decided to build the race track around and partially across the Olympic Park.
"The streets there will be like a Formula One race track," he said.
"You mean like in Monaco?" I asked.
"Monaco?" the mayor repeated, incredulously. One could see that he was not pleased by the comparison. Perhaps the small scale of that principality did not satisfy his ambitions. "Well, probably like in Monaco..."
He told me that Russia had tried to obtain the rights to a Formula One Grand Prix at least two dozen times before. Anatoly Pakhmonov, apparently, had succeeded where Yury Luzhkov failed. And Yury Luzhkov should know...
When asked why Sochi had found such favour of late, Pakhomov immediately replied:
"Proposals like this usually come from enthusiasts. This time, the idea came from Megafon, who began the process. Some of the company's executives started working on the idea, I reported to the governor, and he passed it up the system..."
"Do you watch Formula One races yourself?" I asked.
"Earlier, I didn't watch them," Pakhomov confided. "But now I am a fanatic."
"And who's currently in the lead?" I asked the mayor. "Who won the most recent race? I didn't have the chance to watch it."
"Who won?" he asked. "I'll tell you... I met with Bernie Ecclestone yesterday. We had a nice talk. However, for him this is not about sports, this is business. Well, if you want to know, I'll tell my press secretary, and he will find it out in no time."
Anatoly Pakhomov added that he understood perfectly well why Sochi had won the race for F1 hosting:
"It's all about the climate. Unfortunately, we don't have a city better than Sochi (it seems that Pakhomov is also aggrieved by Russia's loss of the Crimea – A.K.). People love the sea. There may be sea in other places, but there isn't such water as it is here."
I decided not to clarify what he could have meant.
Bernie Ecclestone had to wait for Vladimir Putin for about an hour and a half. For the 80-year old F1 owner, the delay was inconceivable. He once left Buckingham Palace, where he was waiting for the queen, because she was half an hour late.
Now and then, I glanced at the exit from the congress hall where Bernie Ecclestone may appear at any moment. He did not know that the delay was not intentional and that there was nothing personal to it... It is simply how Vladimir Putin lives. The main danger was that Bernie Ecclestone lives differently. I was convinced that the contract with Formula One was in serious jeopardy.
Representatives of the companies involved in the project were also waiting for Vladimir Putin. One way or another, they were all somehow connected to the automotive industry. Head of Basic Element Oleg Deripaska is connected with the GAZ automotive plant, LUKoil head Vagit Alekperov with engine oil, Russian Technologies Corporation CEO Sergei Chemezov with Avtovaz and KamAZ. Finally, Megafon CEO Sergei Soldatenkov, the putative initiator of the process, has tried before to become a sponsor of Formula One.
Only Mikhail Kapirulin, CEO of the Omega technology transfer centre of the Krasnodar Territory construction sector, stood out against that background. However, it was he who eventually signed the documents with Ecclestone.
Arriving at the congress hall, Putin first listened to the Russian participants in the project. Each one of them had his say. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said that he began thinking of how to make further use of the Olympic Park as soon as Sochi was announced the 2014 Olympic host.
"Over 100,000 people usually come to see Formula One races," he said.
"Singapore once received 240,000 tourists," the prime minister vehemently added.
Dmitry Kozak believes that the track will be comprised almost completely of the roads built for the Olympic Park. They will simply need to be reinforced and expanded, which means that "a little more money is needed"... But compared to the construction already being done in Sochi, it is a drop in the ocean. Only members of the International Olympic Committee who have already urged Russia to step up the construction may object to yet another project.
Chemezov said that the Russian Technologies Corporation had strong ties with Formula One as it was: "We are sponsoring our driver, Vitaly Petrov, on behalf of our partner, Renault."
Moreover, it became known that Scartel, one of the Russian Technologies Corporation's subsidiaries, was willing to "purchase the Grand Prix title, to be known as the Scartel Grand Prix."
Earlier, the race was to be called Grand Prix Russia. It's still unclear whether the third word will make it through all the fuss. At least Sergei Chemezov did not mention it.
LUKoil CEO Vagit Alekperov praised his company's oil, while Oleg Deripaska pointed out that the GAZ automotive plant was undergoing "very positive changes" and that production "had already risen 46% against last year."
I was thinking only of whether Bernie Ecclestone had already left the congress hall or not.
Only Kapirulin, who was representing the Krasnodar Territory's evident interests, said that there had earlier been bogs on the ground where the track is to be laid.
After everyone had his say, Vladimir Putin finally met with Bernie Ecclestone. This short, silver-haired man approached the prime minister casually. (It seems that he is neither capable of nor disposed to haste. Maybe that's why he hasn't yet left. Age is taking its toll...). He greeted the prime minister and patiently listened as the latter recalled how Leonid Brezhnev once tried to agree with him on the construction of a similar track. Of course, we cannot be sure whether Ecclestone remembers it himself.
In his chair, the legs of the Formula One CEO did not quite touch the floor. Ecclestone seemed uncomfortable and finally managed to touch the carpet with the tip of his shoe. He became relaxed and said that he was happy that they had finally managed to come to an agreement.
However, he later told journalists that only a framework agreement was signed, rather than a contract, and that it did not include the project's feasibility study or the participant's exact shares.
Apparently, the hour and a half of waiting did not go unnoticed.
Nevertheless, the signing was arranged with a measure of pomp and ceremony. There were a few glasses of champagne and much applause.
Standing in the first row of seats for guests, Ecclestone's companion Fabiana was watching the ceremony with excitement. This jet-black brunette is about 28 and has a five-pointed star tattooed on her ankle (special thanks for this). As the 80-year old Ecclestone took off his glasses to inspect the agreement and carefully looked for the place to sign, she held her breath with anticipation and what looked like concern.
What is this if not love?
And what if this is love?
Andrei Kolesnikov