Dynamo Moscow Fan Club – Динамо Москва

Russian football club signs two Portugal internationals

May 14, 2005

Dinamo Moscow came into agreement with FC Porto on a deal bringing two stars of Portugal’s national team, Maniche and Costinha into the Russian club. Their transfer cost was 16 and 4 million euros respectively, making this the most expensive transfer deal in Russian football. The head of Dinamo’s board of directors, Alexey Fedorychev, is among the wealthiest Russian businessmen and he is responsible for making the money available to the club. Another Dinamo transfer target is the Greek footballer Seitaridis, also playing for Porto, but this deal has not yet been confirmed.

Meanwhile, in a Russian Premier League match Saturday with Amkar Perm Dinamo Moscow suffered its fourth defeat in a row 1-2, dropping to 9th place. Amkar (one of the poorest teams in Premier League) on the other hand, won the second match in a row. Despite conceding an early goal, Amkar was able to fight back, score from a penalty and secure a slender lead to win the away game.

Despite numerous signings between seasons and hiring a new coach, Oleg Romantsev, Dinamo’s performance is far from the best. Last season saw them at 14th place (out of 16), barely avoiding relegation, and the start of a new season isn’t promising either. It is yet to be seen, whether the new signings can help the club join the ranks of the top RPL teams, such as Lokomotiv Moscow and CSKA Moscow.

Updated: Nov. 7, 2005
Dynamo Moscow sack Wortman

MOSCOW, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Brazilian coach Ivo Wortman has been sacked by Dynamo Moscow following a string of poor results, the Russian premier league side said on Monday.
‘He has failed to fulfill the given task and thus was sacked by the club,’ Dynamo said on their official website.

Wortman, 55, who came to Dynamo from Brazilian side Juventude in July, could not make the struggling Moscow club a title contender this season.

On Sunday Dynamo suffered their third consecutive defeat, going down 2-1 to city rivals CSKA Moscow, who clinched their second league title in three years with a game to spare.

Andrei Kobelev, who had been in charge of Dynamo for two months earlier this year, takes over as caretaker coach and will guide them against fellow strugglers Krylya Sovietov Samara in the season’s finale on Nov. 19.

Dynamo have struggled since the start of the season despite their flamboyant owner Alexei Fedorychev spending more than $100 million on players since taking control of the club last year.

FOREIGN DESK

A Slaying Puts Russian Underworld on Parade

By STEVEN ERLANGER, (Special to The New York Times) 1248 words
Published: April 14, 1994

MOSCOW, April 13 -

From the attic of the building that houses Kindergarten No. 392, there is a clear line of fire to the parking lot of the Krasnopresnensky Baths, 200 yards away.

At 5:45 P.M. on April 5, Otari V. Kvantrishvili, keeping to routine, left the red-brick bathhouse surrounded by bodyguards. Sportsman, philanthropist, businessman, politician — loved and admired by many for his support of war veterans, orphans and elderly athletes — Mr. Kvantrishvili was also, as everyone seemed to know, a gangster, one of the most powerful bosses in Russia. At 46, he was a “thief in law,” as the Russian phrase goes, a Godfather, one of the untouchables whom many Russians think are the country’s real leaders.

But from the attic of the corner building, at 4/29 Stolyarny Lane, near Metro Station 1905, someone fired three shots from a rifle with a telescopic sight and then disappeared.

Crime and Business Insights

The funeral three days later confirmed everything and nothing about Mr. Kvantrishvili’s life and activities, but it provided a vivid insight into the way business, crime, sports and politics have become intertwined in the new Russia, where huge fortunes are made through connections, vice and the sale of state property.

Mr. Kvantrishvili’s death, with its cinematic touches and abiding mysteries, has prompted an extraordinary emotional outpouring from his many influential friends in a bewildering variety of professions.

The funeral last Friday, in one of Moscow’s most famous cemeteries, Vagankovskoye, was packed with celebrities from entertainment, sports and politics — and with police, secret and otherwise, aiming videocameras.

There were famous actors, famous professional athletes, Olympic champions in Greco-Roman wrestling, which Mr. Kvantrishvili coached for Dynamo, the club of the Moscow militia. There were also popular singers like Aleksandr Rozenbaum and especially Iosif Kobzon, a friend to everyone, high and low, and rumored to have mob connections dating from Soviet times.

And in this city where fancy Western cars are the choice of the new rich as well as gangsters, there were more fancy Western cars, said the newspaper Trud, “than in some European cities,” and a goodly collection of triangular young men in suits and crew cuts, readily identifiable as mafia muscle, with walkie-talkies.

‘Don’t Know for Sure’

It was, in this period of wild capitalism and gangsterism, the closest anyone had ever seen to the marriage festival that opens “The Godfather” saga. And as usual here, there was the strong feeling that everyone involved had seen the movie and was copying the way Hollywood thought gangsters ought to act.

A reporter for Russian television, as he covered the funeral and discussed reports that Mr. Kvantrishvili was a criminal boss, said that “we don’t know for sure.” But the station played the musical theme to “The Godfather” under the photographs of Mr. Kvantrishvili’s headstone, next to that of his elder brother, Amiran, assassinated last August, and close to that of the revered poet and singer Vladimir Vysotsky, whose grave has become something of a shrine, Jim Morrison-style.

The attack on Mr. Kvantrishvili is among a number of mob-related killings here recently. The latest came on Tuesday morning, when gunmen with automatic weapons burst into an apartment and killed a reputed 38-year-old mob leader and his wife in their bed.

“There have been a lot of criminal bosses killed lately,” especially from the Caucusus, said Aleksandr Minkin, a crime reporter with Moskovsky Komsomolets. “But no death has stirred such a commotion” as Mr. Kvantrishvili’s.

Entree to Officials

Perhaps it was because Mr. Kvantrishvili was moving from criminality into more visible forms of activity. He was a public patron of the arts and sports, gave large sums to orphanages and Afghan war veterans, and had begun a political party, Athletes of Russia, which put him on television more and more. His ties to Dynamo had given him entree to many police and security officials; his charitable and political ties, said Yuri Shchekochikhin, a crime specialist for the Literary Gazette, had led him to famous cultural figures and men close to President Boris N. Yeltsin.

And it was Mr. Yeltsin who recently signed an order giving a closed joint-stock company called the Sports Academy, of which Mr. Kvantrishvili was a director, freedom from both export and import taxes from 1993 through 1995.

According to Kommersant newspaper, the Academy was the agent for hundreds of thousands of tons of cement, aluminum, titanium, fuel oil and various ores, drawn from state reserves, for sale abroad. And it was an import agent for consumer goods for multiple other companies, reportedly including kiosk distributors known to be organized and protected by criminal gangs.

At a recent wedding they both attended, Mr. Shchekochikhin wrote in The Moscow Times, a security official pointed to Mr. Kvantrishvili and said: “We both know who Otari really is. But there is not a reception or a presentation where I do not meet him, and surrounded by such people.” And then he himself was pulled into a warm embrace by Mr. Kvantrishvili, who once told Mr. Shchekochikhin: “Sure, it’s all true. But my children will be honest.”

Mr. Kvantrishvili was born in Zestafoni, Georgia, but grew up in central Moscow, in the same Krasnopresnensky district in which he died. He and his brother were said to have been brought up by the crime family that ran the area, and who led the brothers into gambling and card-sharking. He was both a wrestler of impressive standing and a professional gambler and card player, who said of himself: “I’m an expert in horses and people.” He was jailed for gang rape in 1966 and hospitalized for “schizophrenia” in 1970, which may have been a way out of jail.

But in the early 1980′s he was working as a coach at Dynamo, meeting policemen and gathering around himself well-known wrestlers, boxers and weight-lifters, some of whom moved into crime. He directed a Fund for the Social Protection of Athletes, named after a famous soccer goalie, Lev Yashin, while he took advantage of new freedoms to organize some of the first hard-currency casinos in Moscow. He also began to invest in politics, and politicians.

“They write I’m the mafia’s godfather,” Mr. Kvantrishvili told a Moscow militia chief in a taped conversation leaked to Komsomolskaya Pravda. “It was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin who was the real organizer of the mafia and who set up the criminal state. I’m really an honest man,” he went on. “I could have emigrated long ago, but I love this country. I’d rather die than emigrate.”

Mr. Kvantrishvili’s death has been put down to mob rivalries, failed payoffs, personal revenge or even as the reaction of a state angry about his visibility or worried about his proximity to power.

At the funeral, after the lowering of Mr. Kvantrishvili’s oak coffin, topped by a silver cross, Aleksandr Vladislavlev, a well-known politician with strong business connections, called Mr. Kvantrishvili, his neighbor, “an active, powerful patriot of Russia.” He paused, then said: “To kill someone of his highest possible civic position, it’s a way to destabilize a country full of contradictions.”

Mr. Rozenbaum, the singer, said: “The country has lost — and I’m not afraid of this word — a leader.” But given the lack of articles in Russian, it was not clear if he meant Russia’s real leader, or only one of them.

Photo: Eliso Kvantrishvili crying last week over the body of her slain husband, Otari, a reputed gangster. His funeral in Moscow provided insights into how sports, business, politics and crime are changing in Russia. (Associated Press)

Moscow’s Dynamo Stadium Nearly Blown Up?
Front page / Hotspots and Incidents / Terrorism
18.07.2003

A suspicious man resembling a Caucasian who laid the explosives wasn’t detained
A large terrorist act was prevented near the Dynamo stadium on Leningradsky Avenue in Moscow on Wednesday. About 50 meters from one of the entrances to the Dynamo stadium, the police discovered two RGD-5 Blast and Fragmentation Grenades (Offensive); a thread was attached to the grenades and stretched across a foot-path.

A NEWSRu.com correspondent reported from the site of the incident that a garden behind small shops near the metro, the place where the explosives were discovered, was cordoned off with people in civilian clothes. In order to prevent an accident similar to the one that occurred in Tverskaya Street when a FSB officer was blown up, the whole of the territory near the small shops was cordoned off. Personnel of the nearby cafes were evacuated.

The grenades were discovered about 5:45 p.m. Moscow time; an explosives expert neutralized them at 7:10 p.m. Then the grenades were removed to a special testing ground for liquidation. Brigades of the EMERCOM, the FSB and policemen with dogs were working at the site of the incident. Two policemen noticed a man of Caucasian origin setting the explosive device near the Dynamo stadium. When the man saw the policemen approaching him he fled; the police failed to detain the man.

In the bushes where the suspicious man was noticed the police discovered a box with wires, two RGD-5 blast and fragmentation grenades (offensive) and threads that were stretched from the box across a foot-path that led to the stadium. Sources in the Department for Fighting with Organized Crime told Interfax journalists that Chechen terrorists often use such mines on mountain paths.

An investigation was started in connection with the discovery of the grenades near the Dynamo stadium. There are two versions of the incident. It may be connected with the recent acts of terrorism (the explosions at the rock concert in Tushino on July 5 and liquidation of an explosive in Moscow’s Tverskaya Street) and with skirmish between criminal groups.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006. Page 24.
Legendary Soviet Soccer Coach Beskov Dies at 85
By Kevin O’Flynn
Staff Writer

Konstantin Beskov, one of the Soviet Union’s greatest football coaches, died Saturday at the age of 85.

Beskov, in his playing days one of the best strikers of the 1940s, was together with the late Dynamo Kiev trainer Valery Lobanovsky one of the most influential Soviet managers.

Dynamo Moscou – CSKA Moscou (16 novembre 2005)

Match comptant pour la vingt-cinquième journée de la Superliga russe.

Ce derby moscovite est un évènement. Pour la première fois depuis de très longues années, le CSKA est devant le Dynamo au classement. Les militaires sont en effet troisièmes de la Superliga alors que les Dynamistes ne sont que cinquièmes. Les journaux ne parlent que de l’effet Bykov en train de réussir chez les Rouges et Bleus qui accumulent les succès à domicile ou à l’extérieur, alors que le champion en titre est redevenu une équipe normale. Du coup, à la tradition du derby éternel entre les deux clubs les plus titrés de la capitale russe, se double un réel intérêt pour voir jusqu’où peut aller le CSKA nouveau. D’ailleurs, trois générations de Tikhonov sont dans les tribunes de Loujniki ! Viktor le patriarche, Viktor junior, le fils, et Vassili, le petit-fils du maître. Et le trio tikhonovien ne va pas être déçu de la prestation des militaires chez le rival policier…

Dès la troisième minute, les visiteurs ouvrent la marque sur une grossière erreur de la défense dynamiste. Leonid Kanareïkine veut faire une passe à son coéquipier de ligne défensive Alexandre Boudkine, alors qu’il n’y a aucun danger et que les Bleus et Blancs sont en train de mettre en place leur attaque… Le seul problème est que Nikolai Lemtiougov est en embuscade. Le junior formé au CSKA n’hésite pas, intercepte la rondelle et va tranquillement tromper de près Sergueï Zviaguine pour l’ouverture du score. La réaction du Dynamo ne traîne cependant pas. Dès la minute suivante, sur une supériorité numérique, les Bleus et Blancs égalisent, par l’ancien joueur du CSKA, le très prometteur Denis Kouliach, passé à l’ennemi à l’intersaison. L’Ukrainien Vadim Chakhraïtchouk gagne l’engagement et passe en retrait à Kouliach qui allume de la bleue et trompe le gardien letton du CSKA, Peteris Skudra. 1-1 au bout de trois minutes, le derby débute bien !

Le Dynamo poursuit sur sa lancée, profitant de trois pénalités infligées aux visiteurs, dont une à un autre transfuge de l’intersaison, Alexandre Jdan. Serguei Zviaguine doit quand même rester vigilant en bloquant parfaitement un contre dangereux de Denis Parchine. Mais la solution, le Dynamo la trouver une minute plus tard. L’indispensable Vadim Chakhraïtchouk fait la passe idéale de derrière la cage, directement sur la crosse de Maxime Spiridonov qui fusille instantanément Skudra. Le Dynamo a la possibilité de prendre encore plus le large sur deux pénalités infligées en fin de tiers.

À la reprise, surprise dans les cages du CSKA avec le remplacement de Peteris Skudra par Alexandre Fomitchev. La première prisons du deuxième tiers est infligée à Korolev, et le CSKA en profite pour égaliser. C’est l’ancien Dynamiste (décidément !) Alexeï Koudachov qui remet les deux équipes à égalité. Mais le tournant de ce tiers a lieu à la vingt-cinquième minute. La merveille bélarussienne Mikhaïl Grabovski part en slalom dans la défense du CSKA et se présente seul face à Peteris Skudra qui le bloque. Irrégulièrement, estime l’arbitre suédois de ce derby (dans le cadre du programme d’échange d’arbitres de l’IIHF), Monsieur Winneborg, qui siffle un penalty. Après une petite hésitation, c’est finalement Alexandre Kharitonov qui le tire. Mais le capitaine échoue de peu sur le gardien militaire Alexandre Fomitchev. Pourtant, le Dynamo ne renonce pas. Bien soutenu par son fidèle public (le plus nombreux de Moscou), les Bleus et Blancs poussent. Mais Fomitchev a décidé de profiter de cette titularisation pour se mettre en valeur et arrête toutes les tentatives dynamistes… jusqu’à cette passe en retrait de Mikhaïl Grabovski sur laquelle Konstantin Romanov, en coin, redonne l’avantage au Dynamo. Les locaux récompensés de leur persévérance veulent enfoncer le clou, mais Fomitchev veille. Et bien sûr, en contre, le CSKA égalise, une fois de plus en supériorité numérique. Cela s’appelle l’efficacité ! Un tir lointain de Vadim Khomitski alors que Zviaguine était masqué.

3-3 à l’abord de l’ultime période, le CSKA est resté à flot alors qu’il aurait dû couler. Visiblement, la confiance règne dans cette équipe. Pour rester dans les métaphores maritimes, le dernier tiers sera même un Pearl Harbor pour le Dynamo. Il continue à dominer mais est achevé en contre. Après trois pénalités tuées par le CSKA, le défenseur slovaque Martin Strbak, à peine sorti de prison, alors que son coéquipier Alexandre Titov s’y trouve encore, part en contre et place un tir très puissant à l’entrée du port adverse. Sergueï Zviaguine ne peut que constater les dégâts, le Dynamo prend l’eau. Et ce n’est pas fini… Quatre minutes pile poil plus tard, encore en supériorité numérique, un tir du revers en pleine course du Kazakhstanais Dimitri Oupper est repris en déviation devant la cage par Egor Bachkatov pour le 5-3. Les supporters du Dynamo sont abattus par le tir de ce joueur formé au CSKA, puis parti à Saint-Pétersbourg, Cherepovets puis Tver avant de revenir au club. Mais le Dynamo devra boire la tasse jusqu’au bout. À une minute de la fin, le buteur du CSKA, de nouveau en équipe nationale, le capitaine Sergueï Moziakine, cloue le cercueil et transforme le navire amiral du hockey russe en sous-marin déglingué de la flotte du Pacifique.

6-3 pour le CSKA dans le derby, et les militaires qui pointent à la deuxième place du classement, alors que le Dynamo glisse à la sixième… Les journalistes russes n’ont pas fini de parler du miracle Bykov ! Quant à la famille Tikhonov, elle peut se féliciter d’avoir soutenu Slava Bykov à l’intersaison, lorsque certains dirigeants du CSKA voulaient limoger le jeune entraîneur des Rouges et Bleus !

Étoiles du match : *** Alexeï Koudachov (CSKA), ** Alexandre Fomitchev (CSKA), * Martin Strbak (CSKA).

Compte-rendu signé Bruno Cadène

Commentaires d’après-match (dans Sport Express) :

Vladimir Krikunov (entraîneur du Dynamo Moscou) : “Je ne dirais pas que je suis mécontent du jeu de mon équipe. Elle a bien joué mais elle a manqué d’efficacité. Bien sûr, l’absence de Sushinsky s’est vue. Mirnov l’a remplacé sur la première ligne, mais ce n’est pas la même chose. Par conséquent, la première ligne est très souvent sortie du match. Par ailleurs, nous avons encaissé quatre buts en infériorité, et c’est trop. Rien à redire contre l’arbitre, toutes les pénalités étaient justes. Et, bien sûr, Zvyagin a été loin de jouer son meilleur match.”

Denis Kulyash (défenseur du Dynamo) : “Il y a deux semaines, Vyacheslav Bykov a dit dans une interview que le hockeyeur du nom de Denis Kulyash n’existe plus pour lui. Je voulais montrer à mon ancien entraîneur que je suis toujours là. Je ne pense pas que je lui ai fait quoi que ce soit qui mérite de tels mots. Après mon geste envers lui à l’issue de mon but, Bykov a clairement dit à ses joueurs de me punir. Mais Bashkatov n’a pas fait le poids.”

Vyacheslav Bykov (entraîneur du CSKA Moscou) : “Après la pause dans le championnat, le hockey manquait aux spectateurs, et l’atmosphère autour de ce match a donné une motivation supplémentaire à nos joueurs. Je pense qu’aucune des deux équipes n’a déçu. Le grand nombre de pénalités s’explique par l’émotion, les joueurs se sont battus jusqu’à la limite. Cela a été très difficile au début de contenir les attaques adverses, mais les joueurs ont pu changer ça, principalement à cause du jeu sûr de Fomichev. Le remplacement de Skudra est dû à une blessure. Notre efficacité a été excellente, nous avons su exploiter presque toutes les erreurs du Dynamo.”

Dynamo Moscou – CSKA Moscou 3-6 (2-1, 1-2, 0-3)

Mercredi 16 novembre 2005 à 19h00 à la Malaïa arena Loujniki, à Moscou. 5500 spectateurs.

Arbitrage de M. Winneborg (SUE) assisté de MM. Olenin et Shelyanin.

Pénalités : Dynamo 41′, CSKA 51′.

Évolution du score :

0-1 à 02’34″ : Lemtyugov assisté de Kudashov

1-1 à 03’36″ : Kulyash assisté de Shakhraichuk (sup. num.)

2-1 à 15’21″ : Spiridonov assisté de Shakhraichuk et Mikhaïlov (sup. num.)

2-2 à 23’27″ : Kudashov assisté de Nemirovsky et Parshin (sup. num.)

3-2 à 31’26″ : Romanov assisté de Grabovsky

3-3 à 38’38″ : Khomitsky assisté de Kudashov et Misharin (sup. num.)

3-4 à 52’50″ : Strbak assisté de Kudashov et Mukhachev (inf. num.)

3-5 à 56’50″ : Bachkatov assisté de Khomitsky et Nikulin (sup. num.)

3-6 à 58’58″ : Mozyakin assisté d’Upper

Dynamo Moscou

Gardien : Sergei Zvyagin.

Défenseurs : Dmitri Bykov – Sergei Vyshedkevich ; Sergei Gimaev – Andrei Skopintsev ; Denis Kulyash – Evgeni Korolev ; Leonid Kanareikin – Aleksandr Budkin.

Attaquants : Igor Mirnov – Evgeni Fedorov – Aleksandr Kharitonov (c) ; Egor Mikhaïlov – Vadim Shakhraichuk (UKR/RUS) – Maksim Spiridonov ; Konstantin Romanov – Mikhaïl Grabovsky (BLR) – Albert Vishniakov ; Pavel Rosa (TCH) – Dmitri Nabokov – Dmitri Shitikov.

Remplaçant : Vitali Eremeïev (G, KAZ/RUS). Absent : Maksim Sushinsky (opéré du ménisque après le réveil de sa vieille blessure sur un choc genou contre genou à Togliatti).

CSKA Moscou

Gardiens : Peteris Skudra (LIT) puis Aleksandr Fomichev à 20’00″.

Défenseurs : Aleksandr Titov – Aleksandr Zhdan ; Kirill Lyamin – Mikhaïl Balandin ; Andrei Mukhachev – Martin Strbak (SVK) ; Vadim Khomitsky – Georgi Misharin.

Attaquants : Sergei Krivokrasov – Dmitri Upper (KAZ/RUS) – Sergei Mozyakin (c) ; Maksim Yakutsenia – Aleksandr Nikulin – Egor Bashkatov ; Denis Parshin – Andrei Nikitenko – Dave Nemirovsky (CAN/RUS) ; Nikolaï Lemtyugov – Aleksei Kudashov – Sergei Shirokov.

LDC: Trevise écarte le Dynamo Moscou
25/03/2006 – 18:47

Il n’y aura pas de choc 100% russe en finale de la Ligue des Champions. Trevise a en effet disposé du Dynamo Moscou de Hubert Henno en demi-finale, 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-21). L’autre demi-finale oppose à Rome Belgorod à l’Iraklis Salonique.

Les quarts de finale : Mondeville affrontera le Dynamo Moscou !
Les quarts de finale (matchs aller le 17 février, retour le 20 et belle éventuelle le 26 février) ont été déterminés suivant le classement des qualifiés en fonction de leurs résultats dans la phase pan-européenne.

Les 6 premiers de chaque groupe ont été classés de 1 à 6 en fonction de leur nombre de victoires en phase pan-européenne, le goal-average les départageant en cas d’égalité. Les deux meilleurs seconds des 6 groupes prennent quant à eux les 7ème et 8ème places. Ce qui donne :

1. Szolnok : 6 v
2. St-Petersbourg : 5v (+102)
3. Fenerbahce : 5v (+54)
4. Dynamo Moscou : 4v (+48)
5. Mondeville : 4v (+22)
6. Novi Sad : 4v (+19)
____________________________
7. Venise : 4v (+67)
8. La Spezia : 4v (+54)

Les quarts de finale (1-8, 2-7, ..) se jouent en 2 matchs gagnants. Le match aller et la belle éventuelle ont lieu sur le terrain du mieux classé :

Szolnok (Hon) – La Spezia (Ita)
St-Petersbourg (Rus) – Venise (Ita)
Fenerbahce (Tur) – Novi Sad (SeM)
Dynamo Moscou (Rus) – Mondeville (Fra)

Les Normandes joueront donc le Dynamo Moscou qui rappelons-le, a recruté tout récemment l’internationale espagnole Alicia Lopez. Un gros morceau qui compte aussi dans ses rangs Shannon Johnson, la meneuse de l’équipe nationale des USA !

Le Final Four se déroulera les 3 et 4 avril dans un lieu encore à déterminer.

Vendredi 06 Février 2004
Jerome P.

FORBES LIST

Rich are getting much richer in Russia

Soaring markets boost oligarchs’ wealth

Bloomberg News

MOSCOW — Russia’s rich added $107-billion (U.S.) to their wealth during the past year as commodity and stock prices soared, Forbes magazine reports.

The “Golden Hundred,” led for a second year by Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich, had $248-billion of assets on March 24, 76 per cent more than a year earlier, Forbes’ Russian edition said in a preview of its annual survey. The wealth represents about one-third of Russian gross domestic product.

“The inflow of money in the stock market, rising prices for metals and the attractiveness of the banking, insurance and construction businesses” fuelled the increase, Forbes chief editor Maxim Kashulinsky said.

Since collapsing in 1998, the $770-billion Russian economy is in its eighth straight year of growth, driven by rising prices for oil and natural gas. The threshold to make this year’s list was $450-million, almost double what it took last year.

Russia is home to the world’s third-largest clutch of billionaires, according to Forbes’ U.S. edition.

Mr. Abramovich, 39, who overtook jailed OAO Yukos Oil Co. owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky in last year’s list, saw his fortune swell $3.6-billion to $18.3-billion.

Mr. Khodorkovsky, 42, is serving eight years in a Siberian labour camp for tax evasion and fraud.

The biggest gainer in this year’s top 100 is Vagit Alekperov, chief executive officer of OAO Lukoil, Russia’s largest oil company. The 55-year-old former Soviet oil official’s fortune tripled in the year, rising by $8.6-billion, as his shares in Lukoil and other companies surged, Forbes said. Mr. Alekperov is now Russia’s second-richest man, Forbes said, without giving an estimate of his fortune. The U.S. edition of the magazine said last month Mr. Alekperov was worth $11-billion.

The youngest members of the “Golden Hundred,” at 34, are Andrei Melnichenko and Sergei Popov, co-founders of financial-industrial holding company MDM Group, and Danil Khachaturov of state-controlled insurer OAO Rosgosstrakh, Forbes said.

The MDM partners are each worth $3.8-billion and Mr. Khachaturov is worth $760-million, the magazine said.

Entering at No. 100 with $450-million to his name is Alexei Fedorychev, who sponsors the Monaco and Dynamo professional European soccer clubs and owns sulphur and shipping assets via his Fedkominvest holding.

They helped reduce the proportion of Russia’s richest people who depend on energy assets for their wealth. Two years ago, natural resources accounted for the bulk of the assets of 64 of the 100 richest. Now that number is 40, Forbes said.

The Golden Hundred

The 100 wealthiest Russians have assets worth $248-billion (U.S.) or more than one-quarter of Russia’s nominal gross domestic product. The richest amassed fortunes and influence in the chaotic privatizations that followed the fall of the Soviet Union. They have bolstered their wealth in recent years in a wave of initial public offerings and attempts to present a more friendly face to foreign investors.

Top of the list

Roman Abramovich, 39, owner of English soccer club Chelsea, stayed at the top with a fortune of $18.3-billion, a gain of $3.6-billion on last year. He saw his fortune swell by $3.6-billion to $18.3-billion after he sold oil producer OAO Sibneft to state-run OAO Gazprom for $13.1-billion last year.

Off the list

Mikhail Khordokovsky, the founder of oil firm Yukos and once top of Forbes list, has dropped out of the top 100 after making 21st place with $2.1-billion last year. He is serving an eight-year sentence in a Siberian jail for fraud and tax evasion.

$3,600

Average yearly Russian salary.

43%

This year’s rise in the Russian Trading System stock index.

Top 5

Roman Abramovich

Vagit Alekperov

Vladimir Lisin

Mikhail Fridman

Viktor Vekselberg

Sources:

Reuters News Agency,

Bloomberg News

Monday, May 14, 2001. Issue 2197. Page 31.

Violence Mars Moscow Derby as 47 Fans Arrested

By Gennady Fyodorov

Reuters

Dynamo Moscow drew 1-1 with defending champion and city arch-rival Spartak in an entertaining Premier League derby Saturday.

But the match was marred late on by violence when riot police charged a section of Spartak fans after they threw firecrackers into the stands. Order was quickly restored.

Interfax quoted a Moscow police chief as saying that 47 fans were arrested.

Several thousand police were employed in and around Dynamo Stadium for the potentially volatile derby.

On the pitch, Dynamo went ahead just seven minutes into the game when Spartak Gogniyev volleyed home a low cross by fellow-Russia under-21 international Pyotr Bystrov.

Alexander Shirko leveled the score 20 minutes later with a fine header off a pinpoint cross by Nikolai Pisarev.

Spartak, which has struggled in recent matches, dominated the play after the interval, but Dynamo withstood the pressure.

With 10 minutes remaining, Shirko had the best chance when he was left alone in front of the goal, but he hit the post from six meters. A minute later, captain Rolan Gusev wasted a chance to give Dynamo the three points when his shot slammed into the post from 10 meters.

The result left Spartak in third place with 18 points from nine games, while Dynamo dropped to last on seven points.

Across town, Torpedo Moscow hammered Premier League leader Sokol Saratov 6-2 — its first defeat of the season.

Dmitry Vyazmikin led Torpedo with a hat trick to give him five goals in the last two games.

Krylya Sovietov Samara replaced Sokol at the top of the table thanks to a better goal difference despite being held to a 0-0 home draw by lowly Chernomorets Novorossiisk.

In Vladikavkaz, 1995 champion Alania handed fourth-placed Zenit St. Petersburg its third successive defeat, 2-0.

07/02/2006 – 06h55

Costinha é expulso de concentração do Dínamo Moscou

Em Moscou (Rússia)

O jogador da seleção portuguesa Costinha, contratado no ano passado pelo Dínamo Moscou por quatro temporadas, foi expulso da concentração da equipe em Israel, informou nesta terça-feira o diário russo Sport-Express.

Segundo o periódico, a expulsão de Costinha da concentração de sua equipe se deveu às divergências entre o meio-campo português e o treinador do Dínamo, Yuri Siomin.

No domingo passado Costinha chegou ao treino matutino sem chuteiras e durante toda a movimentação da equipe permaneceu sentado sobre uma bola fora do campo, afirmou o correspondente do Sport-Express, que acompanha o Dínamo em sua pré-temporada em Israel.

Sem dar explicação alguma de seu comportamento, o português voltou a ignorar o treino vespertino do mesmo dia, que observou desde o banco.

O periódico afirmou ter provas de que Costinha exigiu que suas chuteiras fossem limpas após cada treino, o que não existe no Dínamo.

“Cada jogador profissional deve participar de treinamentos e trabalhar com pleno rendimento. Se não o faz, nem explica as razões de sua conduta, antes de tudo cria problemas para si mesmo”, declarou Siomin ao Sport-Express ao comentar o ocorrido.

Na noite de segunda-feira, Costinha chegou a Moscou, onde seu destino será decidido pelo dono do Dínamo, o magnata russo Alexei Fedorichev, que pagou 4 milhões de euros pela transferência do jogador, de 31 anos, vindo do Porto.

Quinta-feira, 13 de Janeiro de 2005

Edição Papel

O jogador fraco que virou milionário

Em Krasnogorsk, onde nasceu, Alexei Fedorichev tinha o sonho da maioria dos miúdos. Ser um grande jogador de futebol no seu clube de coração o Dínamo de Moscovo. E chegou mesmo a jogar com a camisola azul na década de 70. Mas percebeu que o seu caminho para o sucesso não passava pelo relvado e dedicou-se aos negócios. Mais precisamente à produção e exportação de fertilizantes para agricultura. Tal como o dono do Chelsea, Roman Abramovich, e muitos outros dos actuais milionários russos espalhados pela Europa ocidental, também Fedorichev aproveitou os anos de capitalismo selvagem que se seguiram à queda do regime comunista na ex-URSS para fazer florescer o seu império financeiro. Em 1994, criou a Fedcominvest e sediou-se no Mónaco, onde actualmente dirige a multinacional, que se expandiu à indústria naval e portuária. Fedorichev, de 49 anos, vive agora num elegante apartamento em frente ao mar e a empresa ocupa enorme edifício no centro da cidade. Foi no Principado, onde convive com a elite financeira da Europa, que o milionário russo começou a ver o seu império investigado pela Justiça france- sa, que suspeitou de ligações da Fedcominvest às mafias de Leste. As amizades de Fedorichev também não ajudam à sua reputação. Alexandre Kliouev, seu associado principal, foi condenado em 1997 a seis meses de prisão por falsificação de passaportes húngaros. Fedorichev tem dupla nacionalidade: russa e… húngara.

Quinta-feira, 13 de Janeiro de 2005

Edição Papel

Mercado Dínamo de Moscovo ataca forte nos clubes portugueses

Da Rússia, com dinheiro

Alexei Fedorichev, dono da Fedcominvest, é a fonte dos milhões que entram em Portugal

Primeiro, Frechaut, depois, Danny e, num ápice, também Cícero, Jorge Ribeiro, Thiago e, principalmente, Derlei. Em poucos dias o mercado do futebol nacional era vasculhado por um cliente inesperado, de paragens pouco habituais. O Dínamo de Moscovo, da Rússia, descobriu em Portugal um filão apetecível de jogadores e deixou muita gente a questionar-se sobre os motivos desta súbita descoberta e sobre a origem dos milhões russos – no total, foram já mais de 15 milhões os euros que o Dínamo «injectou» em clubes portugueses. A resposta anda em torno de dois nomes Alexei Fedorichev e Jorge Mendes. E da «amizade»que ambos construíram.

O Dínamo de Moscovo é, no fundo, apenas o último exemplo da nova realidade emergente do futebol russo. Uma realidade moldada por milhões e milionários. Donos de impérios financeiros, mais ou menos suspeitos na sua legalidade, que compram clubes e neles investem rios de dinheiro. É o que acontece com o patrocínio de Roman Abramovich (o dono do Chelsea) ao CSKA, por exemplo. E é o que acontece, desde Setembro passado, com o Dínamo de Moscovo, onde o multimilionário Alexei Fedorichev, presidente da multinacional Fedcominvest, resolveu investir, comprando 51 por cento das acções. Uma realidade que faz com que o outrora «fechado» e distante futebol russo seja agora um ponto atractivo para futebolistas brasileiros, argentinos, africanos ou… portugueses.

Fedorichev é também, desde 2002, o principal investidor dos franceses do Mónaco (adversário do FC Porto na última final da Liga dos Campeões), que ostentam nas camisolas o nome da Fedcominvest. E terá sido aí, no clube do Principado, que começou a criar relações privilegiadas com o empresário português Jorge Mendes, também um dos principais parceiros de negócio de Abramovich no Chelsea. O Mónaco-Chelsea, das meias–finais da última Liga dos Campeões, terá sido mesmo o momento–chave no desenvolvimento das estreitas ligações de Mendes com os multimilionários russos. Ao ponto de, como afirmou ao DN um jornalista do Sport Express, de Moscovo, Jorge Mendes se ter tornado «no parceiro privilegiado» de Fedorichev no plano de reconstrução do Dínamo de Moscovo.

Em França, a entrada dos milhões da Fedcominvest no Mónaco foram tudo menos pacíficos, levantando várias suspeitas sobre a ligação de Fedorichev com as mafias russas. Um artigo do jornal Le Monde revelava a existência de vários relatórios dos serviços secretos franceses e italianos sobre a Fedcominvest, suspeita de «ser o braço legal do crime organizado de Leste». Também Fedorichev aparecia descrito como «cabecilha de grupos de branqueamento de capitais provenientes de tráfico de armas e estupefacientes, organizado sob a cobertura do grupo monegasco Galaxy Management, ligado ao chefe mafioso Leonid Minin». Inicialmente, o Príncipe Rainier vetou a entrada da Fedcominvest no Mónaco, mas Fedorichev sempre negou as acusações e viu mesmo o tribunal monegasco condenar o jornal a indemnizá-lo em 30 mil euros por difamação pública. Mas nunca se livrou da suspeição.

O Dínamo Moscovo, esse, agradece o investimento. E os clubes portugueses também.

La grande machine du football

La Russie en eau rouble

Vendredi, 26 août 2005

Par Eugene Sekundo

Si la qualité d’un championnat se mesurait à sa puissance financière, la Premier League russe serait l’un des tout meilleurs d’Europe. Cependant, malgré le succès du PFC CSKA Moskva en Coupe UEFA et sa participation à la Super Coupe de l’UEFA, la Russie est encore loin derrière ses voisins européens en terme de réussite sportive et de management.

Nouveaux investisseurs

L’une des conséquences indirectes de la chute de l’Union soviétique en 1991 a été la mise en déshérence des écoles de football qui prospéraient à l’époque. Heureusement, de nouveaux investisseurs ont rendu possible l’émergence d’une nouvelle génération de talents prometteurs ainsi que la construction de nouveaux stades. Car en terme de finance, beaucoup de championnats européens envient la Russie.

L’exemple d’Abramovich

Lorsque Roman Abramovich est devenu l’actionnaire majoritaire du Chelsea FC en juillet 2003, il n’a pas laissé ses compatriotes indifférents. Alors que certains étaient ravis de revoir, même de façon indirecte, leur pays au plus haut niveau du football européen, d’autres partageaient l’avis de Viacheslav Koloskov, le vice-président de l’Union russe de football : “Il serait préférable qu’Abramovich investisse son argent dans le football russe.”

Rentrée d’argent

Koloskov a dû se réjouir en apprenant huit mois plus tard que Sibneft, la compagnie pétrolière d’Abramovich, sponsorisait désormais le CSKA. D’autres investisseurs allaient rapidement en faire de même. Leonid Fedun, le vice-président de Lukoil, prenait la tête du FC Spartak Moskva, tandis qu’Aleksei Fedorychev, qui à travers sa société Fedcom a aidé l’AS Monaco FC à atteindre la finale de l’UEFA Champions League en 2003/04 – après avoir éliminé le FC Lokomotiv Moskva – prenait le FC Dinamo Moskva.

Légion étrangère

Ces investissements n’ont pas seulement fait revenir les footballeurs russes en exil, ils ont permis d’attirer un grand nombre de joueurs étrangers. Le Spartak a dépensé 11 M€ pour s’offrir Fernando Cavenaghi, le CSKA s’est offert l’international croate Ivica Olic ainsi que trois vedettes brésiliennes – Daniel Carvalho, Dudu et Vágner Love – et le Lokomotiv a recruté le milieu de terrain Francisco Lima, convoité par l’AS Roma.

Le Dinamo à la sauce portugaise

De son coté, le Dinamo a rivalisé avec Chelsea par son recrutement ambitieux. Alors que le Portugais José Mourinho est parti pour Londres, les anciens joueurs du FC Porto Derlei, Costinha, Maniche, Thiago et Giourkas Seitaridis ont rejoint la capitale russe. En conséquence, la télévision locale donne de plus en plus d’importance à la Premier League et les supporteurs s’y sont habitués.

Manque résultats

Ces dépenses n’engendrent cependant pas forcément les résultats escomptés. Même si elle compte dans ses rangs des joueurs ayant remporté la Champions League en 2004 avec Porto et ayant disputé l’UEFA EURO 2004™ sous les couleurs du Portugal, la formation du Dinamo reçoit toujours dans son vieux stade et peu de jeunes joueurs parviennent à s’imposer. Cette équipe de vedettes pointe à la neuvième place du championnat.

L’importance des infrastructures

Le Spartak dispose également d’une bonne équipe, mais dispute toujours ses rencontres à domicile à Luzhniki, un stade d’emprunt. Le “club du peuple” peut toutefois se consoler avec son centre de formation très prometteur. Ici, les investissements financiers ont porté leurs fruits, soutenus par les solides infrastructures du club.

Autres facteurs

Ce n’est pas par hasard que le Lokomotiv et le CSKA se retrouvent à nouveau en tête du championnat. Tout en bénéficiant de la contribution de sponsors généreux, ces clubs ne négligent pas pour autant les autres facteurs. Le Lokomotiv possède probablement le meilleur stade de toute l’Europe de l’Est.

Marché local

Le CSKA aligne les frères Alexei et Vasili Berezutski en défense et, au milieu de terrain, Yuri Zhirkov, recruté au FC Spartak Tambov pour la modique somme de 300 000 €, une fraction de sa valeur actuelle. Un recrutement intelligent peut parfois s’avérer aussi efficace qu’un gros portefeuille.

Stabilité

Bien entendu, tous les clubs ne peuvent pas s’offrir des champions d’Europe ou des vedettes brésiliennes, car tout peut s’écrouler du jour au lendemain sans une certaine stabilité financière. Le FC Krylya Sovetov Samara, par exemple, avait atteint la troisième place du championnat en 2004 grâce aux investissements de son ancien propriétaire, Leonid Tkachenko. Depuis, ce dernier a revendu l’équipe avant de se retirer, les débuts du club en Coupe UEFA n’ayant pas réussi à attirer les sponsors des secteurs privés ou publics. Le FC Krylya lutte aujourd’hui contre la relégation.

Le succès du Zenit

Les formations à petits budgets peuvent garder espoir. Le Zenit St. Peterburg n’est pas vraiment un club pauvre, mais ne peut toutefois pas se permettre de dépenser des millions en transferts. En revanche, le Zenit dispose d’un excellent centre de formation, d’un entraîneur respecté, de dirigeants prudents et des plus fervents supporteurs de Russie. Aleksander Kerzhakov et Andrei Arshavin sont des joueurs clés de la sélection russe, tout comme Vladimir Bystrov, récemment vendu au Spartak.

Inquiétudes

Mais malgré tout cet argent injecté dernièrement dans le football russe, le succès du CSKA et la réussite du Zenit en championnat – actuellement à égalité avec le vainqueur de la Coupe UEFA à sept longueurs du Lokomotiv – montrent que ces investissements ne portent leurs fruits que s’ils sont utilisés intelligemment. D’ailleurs, les supporteurs commencent déjà à s’inquiéter de ces arrivées massives de joueurs étrangers qui pourraient empêcher l’éclosion des jeunes locaux et affaiblir l’équipe nationale. Ceci prouve qu’en Russie, tout en permettant aux grands clubs de se perfectionner, l’argent ne fait pas tout.