Zenit St. Petersburg, sponsored by Gazprom, topped Russian football’s rich list with a 2010 budget of $99 million, 52 percent more than its nearest rival, Finans magazine said Monday.
Zenit, UEFA Cup winner in 2008, will match its 2009 budget as some clubs in Russia struggle to stay afloat, the magazine said, citing its own calculations. Zenit is owned by Gazprombank, Finans said.
Manchester United, the world’s most valuable club, had annual revenue of $512 million, Forbes magazine reported in April 2009, while Real Madrid, the second most valuable, had revenue of $576 million.
Of Russia’s eight richest clubs, only one, CSKA Moscow, increased its budget this year to $64.3 million from $49 million a year earlier as sponsors reined in spending or withdrew support, Finans said.
Zenit, which finished third in Russia’s Premier League last season, is trailed by LUKoil’s Moscow club Spartak with a budget of $65 million and Dynamo Moscow at $64.7 million, financed by VTB Group and billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s Metalloinvest.
Rubin Kazan, the Russian champion in 2008 and 2009 and backed by companies in the oil-rich Tatarstan region, was in sixth place with $55 million, according to Finans. The magazine based its budget estimates on publicly available data or information provided by club management. ?
Samara’s Krylia Sovetov club, backed by state-owned holding Russian Technologies and carmaker AvtoVAZ, shrank its budget by almost two-thirds to $12 million in 2010 and has strained to make debt and salary payments. Players have threatened to sit out the first game of the season and fans have gone on hunger strike to protest the club’s perilous finances, according to the club’s web site.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Feb. 17 ordered Sergei Chemezov, head of Russian Technologies, and Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin to take all “necessary steps” to support the club. Krylia Sovetov needs between $20 million and $30 million to continue operating this year in addition to the funds required for making debt payments, Sechin said.
Twenty-two companies agreed to provide “long-term” financing to the team, including Rosneft, Transneft and Novatek, Samara region Governor Vladimir Artyakov said Feb. 18, according to the local government web site.
… we have a small favor to ask. As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.
Remind me later.