Penza, 26 December 2014. PenzaNews. A total of 69 million rubles was used to finance “Diesel” professional hockey club in 2014, said Lyubov Finogeeva, Minister of Finance in the region.

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“These are direct transactions, plus things the club does not pay for – a gratis training equipment in ‘Diesel-Arena’ in perfect condition,” she clarified during a briefing session of the Penza regional government on Friday, December 26.

According to the minister, “Diesel” earned a total of 26 million rubles this year.

Lyubov Finogeeva struggled to say anything about the 2015 budget, but noted the sports teams will receive 5% less subsidies next year.

“The regional committee chooses how to distribute the money between teams. There will be no rapid growth in any region or in the federal budget itself,” emphasized Lyubov Finogeeva.

In his turn, Alexei Ryabov, the first deputy chairman of the regional government, said “Diesel” will receive the final 2014 support package of 5,185,800 rubles until the end of the day.

“The team, let’s say, was not financed too regularly. However, we followed our obligations: every other issue of the team is on the responsibility of its management. We will give away all the money according to the budget up to the last ruble,” he clarified.

Alexei Ryabov also said the financial difficulties of the club were caused by overblown salary budget, and was incredulous about the fact the management forms a team it is unable to pay for.

“Next year we will strengthen the supervision and will codify the issues in order to avoid similar crises,” he said.

According to the official, “Diesel” will change radically in the nearest future.

“We are considering it. Possibly we will have to get rid of expensive players, of those who thing of themselves as individuals and are not one with the club. We don’t need such people who would provoke and sabotage the team,” the online news portal “Penza-Sport” quotes Alexei Ryabov.

As PenzaNews agency reported earlier, the team captain Evgeny Chesalin addressed the sports fans after the house match against “Ermak” from Angara in Diesel-Arena sports complex. According to him, the team’s poor performance is a result of the fact the team and the coaches were not paid for their work during 2.5 months. Evgeny Chesalin announced the team players are going on strike: they will refuse to take part in the Supreme Hockey League championship matches until the debt is paid.