Astana unveils new sponsors for 2014

    By James Emmett
    The Astana top level road cycling team has launched its team jerseys for the 2014 season, unveiling two new sponsors in the process.
    Backed primarily by the governmental Samruk-Kazyna fund, which has funded the team since its foundation in 2007, the team will also be supported by the Kazakh carrier Air Astana next year.
    The airline, whose fleet of 28 aircraft fly to 63 destinations around the world, will have a logo in a prominent position on the chest of the team's jersey, below the Astana team logo.
    The team will continue to promote the 2017 world Expo, which will be hosted in the Kazakh capital of Astana, on its support vehicles.
    Astana Motors, the team's first privately owned sponsor, will be joined in 2014 by the Raimbek Group, which has bottling, agriculture, brewing, real estate, and supermarket businesses across Kazakhstan.
    
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    “We are fortunate to remain with our main sponsor, the national welfare fund Samruk-Kazyna, and join their Astana Presidential Club of sports teams. Those logos will retain a place of pride on our race clothing," said the team's former rider and current general manager Alexander Vinokourov.
    “On the chest we change to the national airline Air Astana, though we retain the Expo 2017 logos on team vehicles and printed materials. For 2014 our first non-governmental sponsor Astana Motors is joined by Raimbek Group, a diverse holding company with more than 20 years of active and successful business ventures in Kazakhstan and around the world.”
    The team will form a central part of a major rebranding effort being planned for the Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund-backed sports teams this year.
    The Kazakh government currently spends some US$120 million a year on its various professional sports teams, according to SportProMedia.