Everything is in confusion in the modern football. Sheikhs and American businessmen own English and Spanish teams. Businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev “caught” the controlling interest of Monaco FC. Maybe only a hearing impediment can prevent you from hearing all about Roman Abramovich and his Chelsea FC. Alisher Usmanov is “the man” at Arsenal FC. Anton Zingarevich owns Reading FC, for which Pavel Pogrebnyak scores. Ex-Mayor of the Khimki District of Moscow, Yuri Korablin, is raising Italian Venezia FC. Scottish Heart of Midlothian is lead to victories by a Lithuanian tycoon Vladimir Romanov.

But all our rich cats were completely outdone by Gazprom.

The collective billionaire started with Zenit FC. Thanks to insane spendings of the state-owned company on a bunch of necessary transfers, the Saint Petersburg club won the UEFA Cup and Super Cup.

In 2007, the gas company began to cooperate with German Schalke, acting as a sponsor. Back then, it seemed like a good publicity stunt. However, five years of “supporting” the favourite team of Gerhard Schroeder cost EUR 125 million. This year, the contract was extended until 2017. And now the seven-time champion of Germany, whose jerseys have long borne the internationally recognisable gas logo, will receive EUR 15 million a year (the second largest figure, after Bayern FC, which receives EUR 22 million from Deutsche Telekom). According to market researches, these investments made Gazprom the third most recognisable sponsor in German football. By the way, this winter the producers of the national subsoil wealth were negotiating with the giant from Munich...

In 2010, the gas company decided to lend a helping hand to Belgrade's Red Star (Crvena zvezda Beograd). But not just off the cuff. In 2009, Gazprom acquired a 51% stake in Serbian oil company NIS, becoming the largest investor in the country. Interestingly, in addition to billboards at the stadium and an emblem with a flame on the uniforms, the money (EUR 4 million for 12 months) goes to form a fund financing the youth team. Many wondered: why, during the last year's visit to Serbia, Vladimir Putin, who hardly knows the difference between inside and offside, attended Partizan – Red Star game? It was, figuratively speaking, all about gas...

And this season the gas company are really having themselves a ball. The first step was Chelsea FC. According to the club's Head of Commercial Partnerships Steve Cumming, up to 2015 Gazprom will supply the “aristocrats” with gas and electricity.

The UEFA also got a piece of the “colourless” subsoil pie. Back in July, the parties signed a document under which the largest gas company became an official partner of the Champions League for 2012–2015. Of course, such powerful goal will only boost the reputation of Gazprom, but how much the budget of the main sporting event of the Old World will grow – remains a mystery. But the pleasure of seeing the habitual logo and the seven letter-word next to such giants as Heineken, UniCredit, Ford or MasterCard, can't be cheap. Certain sources claim that the gas-men would have to fork out more than EUR 40 million...

Here's another route for the flow of the state company's money. Dutch Vitesse FC, owned by a Georgian businessman Merab Jordania, is going to raise Gazprom to a new level for EUR 10 million. Or is already raising? Just in case (if it doesn't work out with Vitesse), Miller and his friends also purchased a special box at the Amsterdam ArenA for future negotiations while watching Ajax play.

Dreams to promote the image and fame of the Russian corporation are also cherished by Bulgarian CSKA and Greek P.A.O.K. Thessaloniki, by the way, is run by a former tobacco king from Rostov, Ivan Savvidi. There is no official confirmation of these deals or, equally, of any possible numbers. However, as Savvidi said himself, “there is no football club who wouldn't want to cooperate with Gazprom”.

It seems that the great A.C. Milan, experiencing some financial difficulties, also wouldn't mind linking itself to Gazprom. Silvio Berlusconi, who covers the club's expenses as best he can, had intentions to sell the shares of the “Rossoneri” and allegedly has already discussed the “knight's tour” with Vladimir Putin. However, now that “my friend Silvio” got a “fail” from his native Milanese court, the prospect of further negotiations are not quite clear...

Voices from the Stands

Fans of the teams around which Gazprom has wrapped its ever-reaching tentacles are ambivalent, although without any particular hysteria, about the Russian octopus. Followers of Schalke, for example, generally are pretty calm, realising that the sponsor is not going to interfere with the club policy. And the sales of teddy bears in blue and white uniforms with the inscription “Gazprom” at the club's souvenir store are going pretty good.

Rather more radical fans of Red Start, friendly with the tiffosi of Moscow's Spartak, were not happy with the fact that the club T-shirts will bear the same name as the uniforms of Saint Petersburg's Zenit, the sworn enemy of the Muscovites. However, no demonstrations of dissent followed. Still, the Serbian squad is going through difficult times, and a little rouble help is more important than ever.

Fans of Chelsea, who were very unhappy with the original purchase of the home team by Roman Abramovich, after a long-awaited victory in the Champions League see all Soviet things more than tolerantly. “All that indirectly benefits the Di Matteo men goes,” that's the opinion of most fans of the “aristocrats”.

It's pretty hard to predict the reaction of “Milanisti” to a possible seizure by Gazprom. The fact being, they have been known to often protest against certain transfer policies of the club and, in particular, against the actions of Silvio Berlusconi who sold all the leading players. Not long ago, they erected a makeshift tomb in front of the office of A.C. Milan, laid funeral wreaths on it and lit candles. “You have buried our ambitions,” read the inscription on one of the posters.

Hearth and Home

Yet, Gazprom is also seriously involved in the sports life of its own country. First of all, the corporation works with the RFU (Russian Football Union). According to unofficial sources, annually Gazprom sponsors the Russian Football Union with about USD 10 million. Moreover, the gas giant is represented in the two “persons”. In addition to Gazprom, the RFU is also fed by the corporation's subsidiary: SOGAZ Insurance Company, which is the title sponsor of the Russian Football Championship. For those who don't know: under the four-year agreement with the Premier League, the insurers must pay USD 60 million. In addition, keeping 19 teams, according to the experts (again, no official figures exist) requires a total of over EUR 25 million.

Support also goes to two volleyball clubs: Zenit from Kazan, right now the best volleyball team in Europe, and Gazprom-Ugra from Surgut. Its namesake, a five-a-side football team Gazprom-Ugra from Yugorsk, a leader of the Russian championship, also doesn't go without help of the “cool” sponsor. SKA (Saint Petersburg) and Avangard (Omsk) which are among the leading clubs of the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League)proudly advertise the Gazprom logo on their jerseys. But for how much – that's a riddle without an answer. But the corporation also works for the future, establishing a new Hockey Academy Avangard.

There are also such programs as Give a Stadium to Children and Gazprom for Children. The first one was laying sports pitches for kids at some impressive pace. And the second programme was aimed at building sports and recreation facilities in Bryansk, Kurgan, Torzhok, New Urengoy, Altai, in Mari El and other regions of Russia. In late 2010, they opened the largest athletics arena in Siberia. The price tag of the Tomsk miracle says RUB 713 million. Overall, Gazprom was involved in construction of more than 600 facilities, where tens of thousands of children play sports.

Andrey Uspenskiy

* No official agreement has been signed yet.

Materials prepared by Daria KOBYLKINA

JSC Gazprom answers the questions of Novaya Gazeta

Bayern fans express their position with regard to the possible influx of gas money into the German football club

1) Gazprom signed sponsorship agreements with foreign football clubs Schalke 04 and Red Star. What are the amounts specified in these agreements and for how long are they intended?

Information regarding the amounts in the contracts is a trade secret.

As for the terms, the contract with Schalke 04 FC signed this year will expire in 2017. The contract with Red Star Belgrade is concluded for the period from 2010 up to 2015.

2) There have been reports circulating in the media for quite some time, about Gazprom planning to enter in a sponsorship agreement with the football club Bayern (Munich), as Germany is the largest consumer of Russian gas. Are such negotiations really underway?

Indeed, Germany is the largest importer of Russian natural gas. In 2011, the company sold 34.02 billion cubic meters in this market.

Gazprom did receive such an offer from Bayern, but right now we don't have any committed decisions to sponsor another German football club, apart from Schalke 04.

3) Fairly recently, the company entered into a partnership agreement with Chelsea FC. What's the significance of this collaboration and what financial load would it entail for Gazprom?

The partnership agreement with Chelsea FC was made by Gazprom Marketing&Trading, a subsidiary of Gazprom Group, with its head office located in London. This company works with marketing, trading and supply of gas and electrical power to foreign markets and most of its operations take place in the territory of the UK. Accordingly, the partnership with Chelsea FC is financed precisely form the UK market.

As for the partnership agreement with Chelsea FC, it provides for organization of exclusive electricity supply to the club from the portfolio of Gazprom Marketing&Trading. In addition, under the agreement, the company logos will be placed on the LED displays at the Stamford Bridge Stadium during the matches of the English Premier League, FA Cup and Football League Cup, as well as a series of other advertising services.

Signing a partnership agreement with Chelsea, a successful football club recognized globally is a good step in terms of promoting the Gazprom brand and improving the image of the company in the target European markets.

Besides, supplying energy to the club is an essential step on the company's way to end-users in Europe.

4) What motivates Gazprom in concluding sponsorship agreements with foreign clubs? Being a long-term sponsor of foreign clubs, is it possible to assess how justified such expenses are? How much of a positive effect do they really have on the image of Gazprom abroad? In what ways?

It is important to point out that Gazprom supports not only professional sport. Each year, the company supports many community projects, assisting in development of culture, science, education, promoting healthy lifestyle. For example, implementation of a major social project – nation-wide program Gazprom for Children – during the period from 2007 to 2012 was sponsored by the company in the amount of almost RUB 17.8 billion.

Speaking about the criteria for selection of football clubs, Schalke 04 FC is a good example of choosing a team whose image, history and ambitions are close to ours. Schalke 04 is located in the Ruhr region, in the centre of the German energy industry. In addition, Germany is the largest consumer of Russian gas and the oldest partner of Gazprom.

Thanks to the established partner relations, now the Gazprom logo can be seen on the sports uniform of the club with rich football traditions. It promotes awareness of our brand abroad, helps improve the company's image.

Serbian football club Red Star was also selected by Gazprom not by coincidence. In 2009, Gazprom first appeared in the international oil market – its subsidiary Gazprom Neft acquired a 51% stake in Serbian oil company NIS, becoming the largest investor in Serbia. In addition, Red Star FC is a club with a rich history and has an army of loyal fans.

5) What are the criteria applied by Gazprom in choosing clubs for concluding sponsorship agreements?

Please see the previous answer.

6) Does the company plan to further increase the number of foreign football clubs with which it has sponsorship agreements?

As noted earlier, Gazprom provides a very strong support to many social projects and sports in particular. In the future, Gazprom intends to continue developing these initiatives and projects. And international activities of the company in this direction are no exception. We will consider proposals from interested teams. Prospects of concluding such agreements will be based on our export activities and foreign projects.

7) What's the overall amount spent for sponsoring foreign football clubs?

Contract values constitute a trade secret.

8) What's the amount under the agreement with the Union of European Football Associations on partnership with the UEFA Champions League?

See above.

9) The Company's answer to Izvestia newspaper contained information that “Gazprom <...> in the future does not exclude the possibility of providing financial support to European sports organizations.” In this regard, please, explain: according to Gazprom, which European sports organizations need financial support? Have they addressed Gazprom themselves? Have any preliminary talks taken place?

Currently, Gazprom is not planning to enter into any such agreements.

10) Specify the percentage: how much money does Gazprom spend on supporting foreign sports clubs and organizations, and how much – on supporting Russian sport?

Contract values constitute a trade secret.

 Information Administration of JSC Gazprom

Alexey POLUKHIN: Gazprom is a Semi-state Owned Company

The board of directors of Gazprom has only one government official – the Chairman and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Viktor Zubkov. Among the managing executives, there are no officials at all. This is to some extent a relic of the liberal policies of Dmitry Medvedev, who during his presidency demanded that the governing bodies of state-owned companies be swept clean from any officials. Incidentally, Zubkov here was less fortunate than others – for their membership on the boards of directors government officials do not receive any salary or bonuses. As follows from the company statements, in 2011 the members of the board of directors received RUB 112 million, and the corporate executives – RUB 717 million.

Based on the structure of the authorised capital, Gazprom can be referred to as a semi-state owned company. Russian Federation owns 50.002% of the shares, including 38.373% owned directly, 10.740% – through JSC Rosneftegaz (wholly state-owned company, CEO Igor Sechin) and 0.889% – through JSC Rosgazifikatsiya. The remaining shares are in private hands, 28.350% are traded in the U.S. market, 21.648% – in the Russian one, a large minority interest (2.93%) belongs to Gazprom Gerosgaz Holdings (incorporated in the Netherlands).

At the end of 2011, Gazprom paid RUB 212.3 billion, exactly 25% of the net profit. This is much more than previous years. The reason is simple: in a difficult situation with budget revenues the government demanded that the dividends of the state-owned companies be as high as a quarter of their net profit. Thus, 106.15 billion flowed into the budget, and the rest was divided between the content minority shareholders. And by the bye, the higher the dividends the less chances there are to go spending profits on anything else, including sports.

The second route by which Gazprom replenishes the state coffers is, of course, taxes. It's not all that simple. In 2011, the company paid to the budgets of all levels RUB 967.2 billion, which is a lot. Discussing the draft budget, the Treasury did propose to significantly increase the mineral tax for natural gas industry, yet they lost the fight in the lobby wars.

It is important to remember that Gazprom is, in fact, a huge conglomerate of companies, something in-between a multinational corporation and a South-Korean chaebol. It has a lot of subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries in Russia, each having their friends, family and colleagues, as well as an array of companies in foreign jurisdictions, including offshore. Each of them living their difficult, full lives, which sometimes entail sponsoring professional sports clubs.

And there are also costs associated with other forms of social responsibility. In the years 2005-2011, Gazprom's total investment in installation and gas supply to Russian regions exceeded RUB 146 billion. By early 2012, the average level of coverage with gas services across Russia reached 63.2%.

This year's “national treasure” is more generous: the funds allocated for gas supply to Russian regions amounts to RUB 37.7 billion against RUB 29.7 billion a year earlier.

All in all, Gazprom is a transnational heritage, closely and nonlinearly associated both with the Russian state and with individual members of the political elite. Therefore, gas supply to villages and gas supply to Chelsea FC — are two separate, unrelated projects, especially when one of them is a forced “marriage”, and the other one — rather for love.

And what are we to say? Goal!