TransTelecom, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, is eyeing a minority stake of FC Lokomotiv Moscow that now belongs to VTB 24.

      As Russia-IC reported earlier, VTB 24 took over control over 9.09 percent of the shares of FC Lokomotiv Moscow on November 1, 2013.

      This made the lender the owner of stakes in two rival clubs – FC Lokomotiv and FC Dynamo Moscow, where VTB controls 74 percent.

      According to Vedomosti, the bank’s representatives have played down the conflict of interest saying it doesn’t run counter to the charters of the Russian Football Union or UEFA.

      Lokomotiv is one of the leading clubs in the Russian Premier League, currently ranked second but with the same number of points as Zenit St Petersburg.

      Set up in 1923, Lokomotiv has been nurtured and sponsored by Russian Railways.

      With assets over RUR 3,189.9 billion, Russian Railways is a national monopoly running the second largest network in the world with 85,200 km of track, carrying over 0.95 billion passengers and 1.2 billion tonnes of freight annually across 11 time zones. The company employs close to 1 million people and is Russia’s fourth-largest company by revenue, with over 1195.1 billion roubles for 2010 (according IFRS).