Russian Olympic Committee Sign USD130m Contract with Gazprom

May 23, 2011

A huge US$130m contract has been signed with energy giant Gazprom by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), to help its athletes prepare for Sochi 2014, it has been announced.


President of the ROC, Russia’s deputy prime minister Alexander Zhukov has said that the money would be invested in its efforts to help Russia recover from their disastrous performance at last year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver where they finished 11th in the overall medals table with just three golds.

He added: “The money is allocated for special purpose programmes as a supplement to other financial means provided by the state via the Sports Ministry and the Russian sports training centre.”

The deal with Gazprom, Russia’s biggest company and the largest extractor of natural gas in the world, will help fund the country’s preparations for Sochi which have been given another boost after the ROC signed a $5m five-year contract with Canada’s Allinger Consulting Inc.

Gazprom recently renewed it sponsorship of UEFA Champions League semi-finalist and debt-ridden German Bundesliga soccer club Schalke 04 on a five-year basis.

Allinger Consulting was founded by Cathy Priestner-Allinger who was the architect of Canada’s Own the Podium blueprint for Vancouver 2010, which received $110m.

Under the contract, Allinger Consulting Inc will develop a step-by-step training programme for Russia’s team leading up to Sochi 2014 and beyond. Russia have been set an ambitious target of finishing top of the medals table in their role as host nation, following last year’s disappointing results.