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At the moment it is clear that nothing is clear about the ownership of the Plovdiv club
Legal disputes and media noise nearly torpedoed the nearly finished deal between Russian billionaire Anton Zingarevich and the PFC Botev Association for the acquisition of a majority stake in the Plovdiv club. And they ruined Christmas for a lot of people under the hills. First its freeze was announced and then its renewal.
“The way the negotiations were conducted is at the heart of the conflict. Every step of the partnership
is being discussed
with 90 fans,
it is voted on and publicly announced.
This led to the leakage of information in all directions, constant complaints and mutual intrigues. Such negotiations require patience and discretion, “a source from the association’s management told 24 Chassa.
Hours before Christmas Eve, Zingarevich took a firm stand, accusing members of the gaming association’s board of directors behind the scenes and an uncoordinated media leak. He said he froze the conversations.
A day later, on Christmas Day, after an emergency meeting, the two parties announced that they had agreed to continue negotiations on the purchase of 60% of the shares in strict confidence.
Important progress was made last week and several parameters were agreed. It was decided that the club’s new board of directors would include: Anton Zingarevich, former boss Georgi Samuilov, the owner of PIMK (the company that is building the team’s new stadium) Ilian Filipov, a representative of Zingarevich and the banker Kiril Hristoskov.
However, under this agreement, the PFC Botev Association, which currently owns 61% of the shares, remains without a representative in management at the explicit insistence of the investor. This is one of
the most controversial
moments in
the deal,
But in the end, fans reluctantly backed away from insisting on having their own man in the lead.
Such a case ruined the club’s last “marriage” with Georgi Samuilov. The association then insisted that Boris Gizdakov join the last board, but this request was rejected by the director of Insa Oil.
In the end, it was decided twice a year that the association would receive reports on the club’s finances.
The Russian billionaire promised to finance the development of the Plovdiv giants without loans, and in the spring to attract a new coach and 6 players trained by him.
The wealthy heir to the St. Petersburg family has also stated that he will develop Botev evolutionarily, not revolutionary. After 5 transfer windows, the team will be ready to fight for the title, the association announced. The new owner will take over the concession and the stadium, which is expected to be completed in a year.
Preparations for the deal with Zingarevich have been going on for four months, but the negotiations only came to light with the Russian’s visit to the city in the hills on December 2.
“We have built a network of specialists, including financiers, lawyers, sports analysts, and we want to be as informed as possible about the real situation at the football club,” Zingarevic said in a statement in which he announced that he had frozen the negotiations.
As a reason for the cooling, he pointed to information leaked in the media about future management and the unethical way of conducting business negotiations. His patience ran out after people from the association sent an email to
new request
acquire
10% of the shares
The sympathizers’ organization said they were surprised by Zingarevich’s reaction. They indicated that after the initial negotiations, the representatives of the investors had made “new and greater conditions with a requirement of confidentiality.”
An additional source of tension was speculation that the new owner will part ways with 10 players, including team star Todor Nedelev, who were officially disproved. There were also denials that Zingarevic would “give away” a winter training camp to the Canaries in Cyprus, and that he would bring a coach from Denmark.
In the coming days, if there are no surprises, the agreement is expected to be finalized and the new board of directors to be voted on at the January 8 general meeting.
But at the moment it is clear that there is still nothing clear.
The crisis hit Otev after the bankruptcy of KTB. The trustees demanded millions, which were given to the club during the time of Tsvetan Vassilev. And the fans managed to buy them back.
Then came the problems with Georgi Samuilov. His choice as CEO, Tervel Zlatev, was even ousted.
And at one point the club was closing until the Russian came to negotiate.
Anton Zingarevich is the son of Russian billionaire Boris Zingarevich, who controls the Ilim group. Boris was close to former Russian Prime Minister and President Dmitry Medvedev.
Anton has lived in the United States for years because of problems with the justice in Russia, which have ended. His education is British. He graduated from Cass Business School at City University London with a degree in sports management and practiced in the investment fund Fortress Sports Fund. His BA is from Regents Business School.
He is involved in the business development of the American company Ener1, which manufactures lithium-ion batteries for automobiles. His father Boris is on the board of directors.
Together with his friends Egor Lavrov and Dmitry Altukhov, he founded Zyla Networks, which develops the popular Friends Around mobile application.
Since 2009 he has been married to the Belarusian model Ekaterina Domankova, one of the most popular “Victoria’s Secret” angels. They have a son.
problems
for sports
His problems in Russia are directly related to sports.
As the owner of the Moscow region hockey team “Atlant”, he diverted 4 billion rubles destined for “Energostroyinvest”, a state-owned company with a share of his family.
This resulted in a four-year forced labor sentence, and Zingarevich was tried in absentia because he had already settled in San Francisco.
The case was finally closed on January 29 of last year and the sentence was overturned.
Before Atlant, Anton briefly owned English Reading, but only stayed there for about a year. He bought it from John Madeisky to sell to the Thais, who still run it. A little bit lost.
Earlier this year, Zingarevich was linked to a potential buyer for the French Chateauroux, which is in the second division.
To appear unexpectedly in Plovdiv, to meet with “Botev” and Mayor Zdravko Dimitrov-Ziko.
And to provoke the Christmas excitement of the fans.
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