“For payment reasons under the contracts of Milutinov and Shved, CSKA had to spend a large part of the 2023 budget much earlier” – Vatutin

President of CSKA Andrey Vatutin said in an interview with that leaving the team Nikola Milutinov And Alexei Shved does not mean the release of funds from the club budget for future selection.

Milutinov has been playing for the army team since 2020, Shved returned to CSKA from Khimki in 2021. According to available information, the Russian was earning around €3m per season at the club.

– It is believed that the lion’s share of the club’s budget last season was Shved and Milutinov’s contracts. Now they are finished. Do you have the opportunity to “walk” on the market?

– Yes, Alexey and Nikola were the highest paid in CSKA. Can we use these funds now? Alas, not to a large extent. I will try to explain why. Since the start of the pandemic, most sports clubs have found themselves in a difficult economic situation, and we are no exception. The club has since experienced four budget cuts as well as the loss of sponsors. At the same time, we were looking for new sources of funding in order to maintain the budget at approximately the same level. At the end of 2021, serious agreements appeared with sponsors, on the basis of which the team was built for the coming seasons. Alas, after February 2022, these agreements were forced to cancel. At the same time, the contracts of many players and coaches, signed earlier, were long term and guaranteed, we continued to fulfill them in good faith.

We are grateful to Norilsk Nickel for their tremendous support, but the owner needs to cut costs under current conditions, especially as they are now investing in the construction of a new USC CSKA. The most significant reduction for us occurred in August of last year. As a result, to fulfill the obligations, it was necessary to spend most of the budget for 2023 much earlier (the owner calculates the financing precisely in calendar years). In particular, the obligations arising from the expensive contracts of Milutinov and Shved. Also, due to frontline injuries, we had to acquire Devontei Kaikoka. In this sense, the departure of Nikola and Alexei did not make anything easier overall, because in fact we put ourselves in the pocket next season.

Now, in a year or two, we have to balance the financial situation, we should not expect “big” acquisitions. For the same reason, we are unable to offer Alexei Shved the money he deserves. Yes, it’s not the best moment in the club’s history, but we think the black streak isn’t forever. We have to take it as a challenge, we will work even harder. Money decides a lot, but not everything: they can be replaced by passion, desire, perseverance. To have confident room for maneuver in the future, we now need a step, maybe two, back. I am not talking about price, but above all about expenses. And this is the only way that will help bring CSKA back to the top in the future,” Vatutin told .

In May, the army team lost in the seventh game of the VTB United League semi-finals against Krasnodar Lokomotiv-Kuban (100:103) and did not reach the decisive stage of the confrontation. In the series for third place, CSKA defeated Zenit.