The head of VTB Andrei Kostin said that he was offered to buy Zenit
Chairman of the Board of VTB Andrei Kostin recalled that he was offered to buy a 100% stake in the St. Petersburg football club Zenit. He is quoted by Fontanka.
According to the head of VTB, this happened in 2005 during the purchase of Promstroybank; the proposal to acquire Zenit was made by the owner of the bank, Vladimir Kogan. “Then Alexey Borisovich Miller called me and said: listen, well, I’m from St. Petersburg, give me Zenit.” I didn’t argue, and Zenit went to Gazprom,” Kostin said.
The head of VTB emphasized that owning a football club was not part of his plans. “Then it so happened that through business, through debts, we got Dynamo Moscow. I had no intention of buying or owning a football club,” Kostin said.
Last season, Dynamo and Zenit were contenders for victory in the Russian Premier League (RPL) before the last round. The St. Petersburg team became the champion for the sixth time in a row.
Source: Lenta
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