CSKA Moscow Football Club’s stadium will be called the VEB Arena, under an agreement signed at the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi by Vnesheconombank Chairman Sergei Gorkov and CSKA Moscow FC President Evgeny Giner.

Gorkov described the stadium as an adornment for Moscow, and noted that the country does not have many stadiums of this level, which were commissioned on time and under budget. “I have frequently attended CSKA matches and the new arena is simply amazing. It is not an ostensibly ornate stadium, but it’s versatile and comfortable,” Gorkov said.

Giner emphasized that the stadium could not have been built without the partnership with Vnesheconombank. “If not for the partnership with VEB, we would not have been able to keep pace, and indeed, we would not have this arena,” he said.

Vnesheconombank invested USD 240 million in the stadium’s construction. Initially, the plan was for USD 280 million in investment. “We are not making any direct payment for the stadium name. This is part of our cooperation associated with its construction,” Gorkov said.

Construction on the 30,000-seat arena began in 2007. It opened on September 10, 2016 with a match in week six of the Russian Premier League season between CSKA and Terek Grozny, which finished 3-0 to the home side. The arena complex also includes a football academy, hotel, and business centre.