It seems that the athletes have learned not to squander their salaries and bonuses only on the purchase of expensive cars and accessories, traveling to prestigious foreign resorts and crowded drinking bouts. Remembering that the sports age is short-lived, well-known athletes with varying degrees of success invest in business - in the hope that at the end of their careers they will ensure a comfortable life. Izvestia correspondents found out the business preferences of our sports stars.
1. Hockey player Andrei Nazarov: production of vodka "Nazarov"
A good business acumen is demonstrated by hockey player Andrei Nazarov, who completed his career as a tough guy (fist fighter) in the NHL this year and returned to his native Chelyabinsk. Several years ago, taking advantage of family ties with the co-owner of the Chelyabinsk food industry center Yuri Antipov (uncle), Andrei invested in the production of Nazarov vodka.
A signature 40-degree drink is available in souvenir form and exported to the United States. The hockey player is personally involved in deliveries overseas, the correspondent of the Week saw this vodka in one of the bars in New York at the price of 4 (portion) and 30 dollars (decanter). In Chelyabinsk, the factory price of a bottle with a capacity of 0.75 liters is 193 rubles 40 kopecks.
Nazarov also had his own restaurant in Phoenix, but this catering establishment quickly closed. According to Andrey, the managers too openly enjoyed his trust and employment ...
2. Skater Anton Sikharulidze: restaurant business
Anton Sikharulidze's favorite offspring of the Olympic champion in pairs figure skating - the Sphinx restaurant - successfully operates in the center of St. Petersburg. Open on shares with a friend from outside the world of sports, the restaurant occupies the first floor of the prestigious Oktyabrskaya Hotel. The facade looks at Vosstaniya Square, Nevsky Prospekt and Moskovsky Station.
For a long time the room was in an abandoned state, now people are crowding here from morning till night. The prices are affordable. In the morning, in the Sphinx you can have breakfast for only 49 rubles, in the afternoon on the run you can have lunch for 99 rubles and in the evening relaxed dinner in a warm “Egyptian” setting in accordance with your financial capabilities.
The summer in St. Petersburg was warm, so next to the restaurant Sikharulidze spread a tent of a summer open cafe. Cooks are prepared by cooks who used to work in "cool" hotels and restaurants in St. Petersburg. As for the name, stone and bronze sphinxes inspired his figure skater, scattered in many on the bridges and embankments of the northern capital.
3. Biathlete Alexander Tikhonov: food industry chain
A successful entrepreneur (he does not like the word “businessman.” - “Izvestia”) can be called multiple Olympic champion, vice president of the International Biathlon Union, Alexander Tikhonov. Alexander Ivanovich began developing his business 14 years ago, creating a network of enterprises for the production of grain, vegetables, fish and meat products, and baking bread in the Rostov and Moscow regions.
4. Football player Vladislav Radimov: vineyards in Rioja
The captain of the St. Petersburg football club Zenit Vladislav Radimov is known for his love of winemaking. Radimov, who played for Zaragoza in the mid-1990s, has for nine years owned vineyards in the Spanish province of Rioja, which is considered one of the best places for wine production in the Old World.
According to Vladislav, Spanish plantations bring him a small but stable income.
5. Hockey player Igor Larionov: winemaking in Australia and California
Two-time Olympic champion, winner of two Stanley Cups Igor Larionov invested the earned dollars in wine production in Australia and California in shares with leading winemakers of the world Kevin Mitchell and Dave Miner.
Six bottles of Larionov’s signature red wine “Third Overtime” from the 2002 harvest, put up for a charity auction, were sold for 153 thousand (!) Rubles. The money went to buy medical equipment for the children's hospice in St. Petersburg.
By the way, in Moscow before the infamous excise-alcohol crisis the Third Overtime could be purchased for 950 rubles, and the Third Overtime Reserve - for 1410 rubles. The hockey player also has the Hat Trick and Slap Shot wines. In the United States and Canada, a bottle from Larionov costs between $ 10 and $ 25.
At the same time, Russian forward wine is in frantic demand. The first batch of Third Overtime (223 boxes of 12 bottles) was swept from the North American counters in a week. Now Larionov dreams of his own vineyards in California.
6. Football player Alexander Kerzhakov: Lukomorye restaurant chain
The Zenit football player Alexander Kerzhakov already has two restaurants in St. Petersburg with the common name Lukomorye - at the Chernaya Rechka metro station and along X-ray Street on the Petrograd side.
Prices in forward restaurants are available even for students: salads and side dishes - from 20 to 30 rubles, hot dishes - from 40 to 50, tea - 10, rolls - 15 rubles. It should be noted that the "student" prices are valid from noon to 17 hours, after which the "evening rates" are included. You can have dinner together in Lukomorye for a thousand rubles.
According to unofficial data, Kerzhakov will not be limited to two catering points. He wants to open a Japanese restaurant, a clothing store and a computer club in St. Petersburg.
7. Skater Evgeni Plushenko: plans - a network of mini-hotels
Evgeni Plushenko, Olympic champion in single skating, is ready to follow the example of a senior Russian national teammate. At the end of his sports career, Eugene would like to develop a network of mini-hotels in St. Petersburg. He spoke about this immediately after the triumph at the 2006 Games in Turin. Many tourists come to St. Petersburg, but there aren’t enough hotels at all. To understand the intricacies of the future business, Plushenko studies at the Institute of Hotel Business.
8-9. Hockey players Oleg Tverdovsky and Maxim Sushinsky: profitable contributions to the common cause
Two-time Stanley Cup holder Oleg Tverdovsky has a stake in a company that sells hockey equipment.
One of the most formidable strikers of the Super League, Maxim Sushinsky, has long been engaged in investments in the construction of services and car dealerships in his native St. Petersburg.
In addition, Sushinsky, according to rumors, had a business in Omsk related to gas stations, and with Tverdovsky he was part of the construction of the largest entertainment center XL in Omsk (disco, bowling, restaurant, coffee shop).
10-12. Hockey players Koreshkov, Yudin and judoka Shestakov: points of sale and factories
Former defender of the Russian national hockey team Alexander Yudin is a co-owner of two factories for the production of building mixtures.
Ex-hockey players of Metallurg brothers Alexander and Evgeny Koreshkov in Magnitogorsk operate outlets.
And the ex-president of the Russian Judo Federation, Vladimir Shestakov, recently had some commercial "interests" in Riga.
Boris Titov, Konstatin Ivigin