Head of Gazprom's export arm—Gazprom Export—, Alexander Medvedev, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov (member of the party of power - United Russia), President of the Russian Pension Fund Anton Drozdov (unknown), and Arkady Dvorkovich (United Russia), advisor to the Russian president, are among the high-profile Russian politicians and business elite set to arrive in the Czech Republic in two weeks. The reason for their visit is neither business nor politics but charity — on ice.
Russian politicians, managers, artists and athletes will lace up their skates and take to the ice on the Tesla Arena in Prague on April 9 to compete against hockey team Olypm Praha. Proceeds from the event go to the Foundation for Unassisted Movement (Nadaci Pohyb bez pomoci) of Dr. Pavel Kolář and the Emil and Kuře charities. Russian Embassy third secretary Oleg Sporyshev confirmed the information to Czech Position.
It will be a revenge match for the Czechs — the Russian team won the last contest held Nov. 20 last year in Moscow. Whatever the result, the event should raise more than Kč 2.5 million for charity. Suiting up for the Czech team will be former prime minister Mirek Topolánek (Civic Democrats, ODS), MP Petr Bendl (ODS), former football players Ivan Hašek and Horst Siegel, actors Martin Dejdar, David Suchařípa and Sagvan Tofi — as well as a couple of ringers: former hockey players Jiří Hrdina and Pavel Richter.
Nothing against them, especially as it is all for charity, but compared to the Russian hockey players were not even talking about the second league but rather a district championship. Too bad that the Olymp Praha hockey club didn’t also draft one of the Czech ministers or top managers. Or perhaps the actors and athletes thought that no Czech entrepreneurs know how to handle a stick?
A few body checks on the ice and post-match thirst for beer could help local businessmen make informal contact with the Russian political-economic elite, and also provide extra funds for the worthy projects run by the charitable foundations Kuře, Emil and Pomozte dětem (Help the Children!).
Also playing for the Russian team with the banner “Under the flag of good” will be UNIFIN bank president Alexei Parfenenko; Gazprom top manager Oleg Barinov; former Russian deputy prime minister for social affairs and former mayor of Samara Oleg Sysuyev; Kazan mayor Ilsur Metshin (United Russia); Krasnoyarsk region governor Lev Kuznetsov (United Russia) and Nizhny Novgorod Region Governor Valery Shantsev (United Russia, formerly a regional secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union).
