E-Malt.com News article: Russia: Beer soon to be available at Russia’s Premier League side despite federal law

Beer will now be served at Russia' Premier League side, Zenit Saint Petersburg, home matches despite the national ban, Russia’s Vedomosti daily reported on April, 13.

According to Russia’s federal law, beer is not to be sold at health, fitness, and sports facilities around Russia. This made Zenit address the city’s authorities, asking them to deprive some parts of their home Petrovsky stadium from the status of a sports facility.

The arena, which has the capacity of 21,000, is the property of the city of Saint Petersburg.

The officials have satisfied the request. Zenit will gain control of some areas around and inside the arena, where they’ll be able to sell and advertise beer for the upcoming three years. The contract will be signed on April 22.

The move will allow the 2008/09 UEFA Cup winners earn over 5 million roubles (around $ 150,000) a year says Sergey Belkov, Zenit’s commercial director. He also added that preference will be given to beer brands produced in Saint Petersburg, like Baltika and Heineken.

Zenit is the richest football club in Russia. Its yearly budget is around $ 100 million, with the biggest part of the sum donated by sponsor Gazprom.

So the whole beer affair is not about earning money in the hard times of the world financial crisis, but only about making the fans happy.

Beer is widely sold at stadiums across Europe. For example, a pint at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium costs ₤ 4, which is the highest price in the English Premier League.



15 April, 2009