Georgian Railway and Locomotive Rugby Club Sign Agreement

TBILISI – On April 4, Georgian Railway and the Locomotive rugby club signed a cooperative agreement making Georgian Railway an official sponsor of the club.

The agreement was signed by the founder of Locomotive RC, Temuri Bendianishvili, and the General Director of Georgian Railway, Mamuka Bakhtadze. The Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Tariel Khechikashvili, and the President of the Rugby Union, Gocha Svanidze, also attended the signing.

The minister emphasized that Rugby is an increasingly popular sport in Georgia and that Georgian Railway makes a significant contribution to the development of sport in Georgia. “I think that support of the rubgy club will become an additional stimulus for our young sportsmen and sportswomen. I also welcome the fact that Georgian Railway has already carried out an investment of several million GEL into Georgian sport since 2013,” Khechikashvili said after the signing ceremony.

The General Director of Georgian Railway expressed readiness to promote Georgian sport in the future as well. “We want the national teams of Georgia to be strong, this is why we started financing Georgian clubs,” Mamuka Bakhtadze said. Georgian Railway has been financially supporting club teams for many years. These teams include: Lokomotive-2008 Rugby club, the National Federation of Basketball, the Sokhumi basketball club, and the Locomotive water polo team.

From 2013-2017, Georgian Railway allocated 4 million gel from the company's budget to finance various sports.

By Thea Morrison