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Russia's oil giant "Sibneft" officially terminated its sponsorship agreement with the previous season's UEFA Cup winners, Moscow's team.
According to the contract signed in March 2004, "Sibneft" was supposed to provide $18 million annually to the capital's club over three seasons, but the new owners of the conglomerate decided to terminate the agreement without paying any compensation.
Recently, another Russian giant, "Gazprom," acquired a controlling stake in "Sibneft" from "Millhouse Capital," an investment company owned by billionaire Roman Abramovich.
There are rumors in football circles that CSKA was able to sign such an agreement only due to close relations between the club's management and Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea in London.
Meanwhile, the president of the Moscow club, Yevgeny Giner, downplayed the significance of the profitable sponsorship agreement's termination: "Terminating the agreement changes nothing - the club is very stable. We have no shortage of potential sponsors; we simply did not negotiate with them because we had a three-year contract with 'Sibneft'."
The president of the army club also hinted about the club's plans to build its own 30,000-seat stadium in the Russian capital.
