Sports sponsorship

In addition to organising local sports events for employees and local communities in the regions of operation, Nornickel actively supports sports institutions and facilities by investing in their development and acts as a partner of major sports events in Russia, multiplying its contribution to the country’s sports potential and promoting mass fitness, sports at all levels, and healthy lifestyles.

Key principles of managing sponsorship programmes

2024 highlights

• The Nornickel‑sponsored basketball team won the 2023/2024 VTB United League Championship.
• Norilsk hosted the Polar Stars Match, where top basketball players conducted master classes for young talents, played a mixed‑team friendly match with Norilsk residents, and visited the Company’s industrial sites.
• During their visit to Oktyabrsky Mine in the Arctic, the famous CSKA basketball team brought the trophy Belov Cup, and one of the team’s top players signed a contract with the Company 750 metres underground.
• A 3x3 basketball tournament was held on the deck of the diesel‑electric vessel Talnakh by Nornickel’s transport division. Olympic bronze medallists, Nornickel employees, and journalists participated in the tournament.

• Norilsk hosted the 7th charitable hockey match between the Hockey Legends and Hockey Club Norilsk. The match raised RUB 3 million, traditionally doubled by Nornickel and donated to support youth hockey clubs in Norilsk and Dudinka.
• As part of the Red Machine national programme, a three‑day training camp for talented hockey players from the Arctic region was organised in Norilsk and the Murmansk Region, including theory classes, on‑ice training, and interactive leisure activities.
• An unusual hockey match was held in the Arctic port of Murmansk: the ice rink was set up directly on the quay of the Company’s transport division – between two harbour cranes.

• Nornickel supported Ian Nepomniachtchi in his preparation for the Candidates Tournament in Toronto. The Russian grandmaster took the third place.

• Nornickel partnered with the Igora Drive Drift Challenge, which included qualifying and tandem runs, a driver parade, a rare car showcase, and a children’s entertainment zone.

• The Nornickel Curling Cup, the northernmost international curling tournament, took place for the eighth time, gathering teams from Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Before the competition, all visitors could attend master classes from famous curling athletes. The tournament was preceded by the Junior Nornickel Curling Cup, with young athletes from Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Norilsk, and Kemerovo showcasing their skills.

• The Nornickel‑sponsored team won the Russian Futsal Cup 2023/2024.
• In 2024, the 20th season of the Futsal to Schools project was launched under Nornickel’s patronage. The initiative provides schools with essential equipment and training materials, offers professional development opportunities for physical education teachers, and helps school students develop healthy habits. The anniversary season was marked with the Polar Bear futsal tournament for school teams across Nornickel’s footprint – Norilsk, Dudinka, Murmansk, Monchegorsk, Nikel, and the Trans‑Baikal Territory.
• In March 2024, a media football team visited Norilsk and held a series of events in the Arctic region, visiting Anhydrite Mine, playing football on Oktyabrskaya Square, and meeting with fans at the Aika sports centre.
• Norilsk also hosted the Norilsk Superfinal, the first‑ever futsal match between media football teams. The match featured two leading Russian media football teams and finalists of the fifth season of the Media Football League.