OREANDA-NEWS. October 18, 2007. The inaugurating ceremony of opening the Ice Palace "Devon" was held in the town of Bavly on October 12. R.N. Minnikhanov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, Sh.F. Takhautdinov, General Director of OAO Tatneft, A.G. Khabibullin,  head of the municipal Bavly area, and A.T. Sikharulidze, double world champion in figure skating, silver prize winner of 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano (Japan) attended the opening ceremony.

The Palace is a multifunctional sports facility, designed to hold training classes for children in ice hockey and figure skating, to arrange competitions and performances on ice, as well as mass skating for people living in Bavly and guests of the town. Two groups numbering 25 ice hockey players or a group of figure skaters will be able to engage with their favorite sports at the same time. In addition to the administrative space the facility houses  change locker rooms, rooms for coaches and instructors as well as a gym, a doctor's and a masseur rooms.
In addition to construction of facilities with artificial ice OAO TATNEFT has built and reconstructed over 70 ice hockey courts.

OAO Tatneft is a major sponsor of the celebrated hockey club "Ak Bars" and Sh.F. Takhautdinov, General Director of the Company, heads the Ice Hockey Federation of Tatarstan and he is  President of the "Ak Bars" ice hockey club. The active support rendered by the Company to the development of the mass sports for children and youth provides a solid foundation for raising a healthy generation of young people and offers great potential for the disclosure of their athletic talents.