Olympics: Volkswagen to sponsor Sochi 2014 Winter Games
Associated Press
SOCHI, Russia — Volkswagen became a sponsor of the 2014 Winter Olympics on Friday in a deal that Sochi organizers said brings total sponsorship revenues to more than $750 million.
Sochi organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko signed the agreement with Dietmar Korzekwa, director general of Volkswagen Group Rus, in the Black Sea resort city.
Volkswagen will provide the organizing committee with about 3,000 vehicles for use during preparations for the Olympics and the games themselves. Most of the vehicles will be produced in the Volkswagen factory in Russia's Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow.
"The support of the Olympic Games in Sochi will help us to demonstrate our automotive competence and the strong connection with Russia and our Russian consumers," Korzekwa said in a statement.
Volkswagen was the official automobile partner of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
Financial terms were not given, but Sochi organizers have said previous deals with top-tier domestic sponsors were worth more than $100 million.
Volkswagen is the sixth "tier one" sponsor signed by Sochi organizers. The others are Aeroflot, telecommunication firms Rostelecom and Megafon, oil and gas company Rosneft and lender Sberbank.