Sochi Organizers Boast $1 Billion In Olympic Sponsorships

VANCOUVER -- Organizers of the 2014 Winter Olympics to be held in Sochi, Russia, say they have amassed more than $1 billion in sponsorship revenues from Russian firms.

In an announcement at the Vancouver Winter Games, which are entering their final days, the Sochi organizers said a $115 million sponsorship deal had been reached with state-owned Russian Railways.

Sochi Games chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said the deal will bring Russian domestic sponsorship revenues for the Games to $1.1 billion.

The funding level is considered important because the Russian government has cut its spending for the Games because of the global economic crisis.

Other top sponsors for the Sochi Games, with deals worth more than $100 million, include Bosco Sport, Aeroflot, Volkswagen's Russian branch, telecommunication firms Rostelecom and Megafon, state-run oil and gas company Rosneft, and Sberbank.

compiled from agency reports