OREANDA-NEWS.  A ceremony was held today in Bratsk, Irkutsk Oblast, to mark the inauguration of Ilim Arena, the first indoor football arena in Bratsk. The construction of the sports facility was financed by Ilim Group as part of its Amateur Sport Support Program. The Company allocated RUB 26 million to implement the project through Ilim Garant Corporate Charity Fund. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Sergey Eroschenko, Governor of the Irkutsk Oblast, Sergey Serebrennikov, Mayor of Bratsk, Alexander Pozdnyakov, Ilim's Vice-President - Director of the Bratsk Branch, Vladimir Slavutsky, Ilim's Vice-President, GR and PR, and representatives of the Russian Football Union.

Ilim Arena meets all the requirements for such sports facilities. The new arena, which is compliant with fire safety and sanitary regulations, is notable for being energy efficient and fully thermally and acoustically insulated. It measures 20 х 40 meters, which is a standard size venue to house futsal drills and competitions.

The wear-resistant artificial turf installed at the new sports facility was provided in the framework of the joint program implemented by the Russian Football Union and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

"Promotion of healthy lifestyle and amateur sports is one of the most important areas of Ilim's charitable activities", said Alexander Pozdnyakov, Vice-President - Director of the Bratsk Branch of Ilim Group, at the inauguration ceremony. "Development of the city and promotion of sports is in Ilim's best interests because we want our employees and the citizens of Bratsk to have an opportunity to engage in sport activity not only in summer but also in winter. Now they have this opportunity. I hope that the construction of Ilim Arena will help to grow many more champions in Bratsk in the future".