SOCOG Inks Rostelecom, MegaFon As Tier One Partners For '14 Games

The Sochi 2014 Olympic organizing committee (SOCOG) has signed Rostelecom and MegaFon as the first Tier One partners of the '14 Winter Games. Rostelecom will be the official telecommunication partner and provider for the Games, while MegaFon will be the event's official mobile partner and provider (SOCOG). SOCOG said that the new deal is the "largest domestic sponsorship in the history of the Olympics," as the two companies "pledged $260[M] in sponsorship, plus a further $200[M] to develop infrastructure in the region." SOCOG said that "more sponsorship should be forthcoming," and "tenders will be held to select major sponsors from the oil, gas, metallurgy and apparel sectors" (REUTERS, 1/31). Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Friday assured the IOC that Russia's "economic troubles will not jeopardize state funding" for the '14 Games. The AP's Nataliya Vasilyeva noted the "liquidity crisis has hit Russia amid the global economic meltdown, causing concern because most of the facilities in [Sochi] need to be built from scratch" (AP, 1/30).