Russian state-run oil company Gazprom Neft has taken a 25 percent stake in financially troubled Russian Premier League side FC Tomsk, the company said Tuesday.
The club came close to bankruptcy during the winter break after local authorities removed their funding, but was saved when Gazprom Neft and another state oil firm, Rosneft, stepped in after they were urged to help by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Gazprom Neft said that its board had approved the acquisition in a statement released Tuesday. The stake will be held by the company's financial arm, the statement said.
Gazprom Neft’s parent company, gas firm Gazprom, owns league leaders Zenit St. Petersburg.
If FC Tomsk are relegated to the First Division, as seems likely, they could play against two more sides owned by local Gazprom subsidiaries, Volgar-Gazprom Astrakhan and Gazovik Orenburg.
Gazprom Neft and Rosneft, which also holds a 25 percent stake and sponsors the FC Tomsk’s shirts, have reportedly set a target for the team to stay in the Premier League.
This would require FC Tomsk to win all of their four remaining games, and for 14th-placed FC Volga to pick up no more than two points from the same number of fixtures.
