Sochi Formula One organiser declares bankruptcy

F1 Boss Bernie

Moscow, June 1 (IANS) The Arbitration Court in the Russian region of Krasnodar has ruled that public company Formula Sochi, an organiser of Russia's Formula One Grand Prix in Sochi, has gone bankrupt, according to media reports on Monday.

The company was indebted 5.8 million rubles (about $109,500), while its available assets totalled only 1.4 million rubles ($26,400), according to the merits of the court's decision, reports Efe.

Russia, which has little experience with F1 racing, invested about 183 million euros ($200 million) to build the Sochi Autodrom, which last year hosted Russia's first F1 race and will remain on the racing schedule at least until 2020.

Under the agreement brokered by Russian president Vladimir Putin and Bernie Ecclestone, chief executive of the group that manages and controls the commercial rights to the sport, Sochi would host Formula One races between 2014 and 2020, with the possibility of extending the agreement for another five years.

Ecclestone initially expressed his desire to bring an F1 race to a street circuit around the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow, but ultimately the idea was vetoed.