Russian football club FC Rostov, a surprise on top of the Russian Premier League, sometimes dubbed as "the Russian Leicester," has gotten a new general sponsor, agricultural group Agrokom.
The deal of an undisclosed value was signed through the end of the '15-16 season, but Agrokom said it is interested in long-term ties with the South Russian squad.
The deal was made possible thanks to the recent surprisingly successful performance of Rostov, which is currently atop the table after the league's 20 games.
"When they first approached me in the middle of last year, I said that I was ready to get involved with FC Rostov only if maximum goals are set [for the squad]," Ivan Saavidi, Agrokom's chairman of the board, told SBD Global.
Agrokom, based in Rostov-on-Don, sponsors local handball club Rostov-Don and plans to build a new sport palace in the city.
Until the current season, FC Rostov's performance in the Russian league was unremarkable. Last season, the squad was 14th and avoided relegation by defeating a second-tier squad in a two-match playoff. There also were reports about the club's financial troubles.
This season, however, Rostov, led by veteran coach Kurban Berdyev, has outdone squads with much higher budgets, such as Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg.
Vladimir Kozlov is a writer in Moscow.
