Prirazlomnaya is a single oil platform and is leading production in the Russian Arctic shelf. It is located in the Barents Sea, 60 kilometres from the coast of the Nenets Autonomous Region. The platform weighs more than 500 tons, is 141 meters high, with an upper deck area equal to two football pitches. More than 200 people work on the platform for shifts of 30 days and oil from the Prirazlomnaya is delivered by the tankers, Mikhail Ulyanov and Kirill Lavrov, via Murmansk to European consumers.
The journey of Zenit to the Arctic came at the invitation of Gazprom Neft and the team started the journey in the early hours of the morning. The blue-white-sky blues flew to the village of Varandey and from there by helicopter to the platform. Here the workers on Prirazlomnaya became the first of our 15 million fans to see Zenit new home and away kits.
The Zenit shirts for the 2016/17 season are designed with diagonal stripes, reminiscent of the famous stripe as worn on the military uniform of Peter the Great. The font for the players numbers has been inspired by the philosophies of futurist artists.
The away kit has been created in the colours of ice, it tells the story of the cold northern climate. The home shirt is presented in the traditional blue with a V-shaped neck line, a blue stripe on the back and the team’s name on the collar. Above the club’s arrow emblem is the gold star, signifying our five league title wins.
Our new kits are made from recycled polyester, created using 16 plastic bottles on average. In just the last six years, Nike have utilized 6 billion recycled bottles, an amount that could cover 5,200 football pitches.
The Zenit players were on Prirazlomnaya for a few hours after the presentation of the new kits, they took a tour of the platform and then in the facility’s cinema, where the oil workers watch Zenit games, they met with the guys who support the team in the middle of the Pechora Sea, 1,630 kilometres north of the Petrovsky.
“It is a journey of a lifetime, an event!” Said Artem Dzyuba. “It is a pity we didn’t come when the platform is surrounded by ice, when the walruses migrate and polar bears are here, but still it has left me with an incredible impression. We have seen how oil is extracted, how it is stored for transportation and the concern they take for the environment, but most important for me is the people. They leave here for a month, sometimes more, I cannot even imagine how difficult that is. It is unusual and a historic moment.”
“To be in a place like this is not for everyone,” stated Alexander Kokorin. “We’ve had a very exciting and interesting day, although it’s also been quite a tough day. I knew something about drilling platforms, but could never have imagined that I’ll stand on one, meet the oil workers and ask them about how they lived, what they do, it is really interesting! They asked us about our lives, we asked about theirs, to see and feel the north is incredible. It has a different climate, to see the power of the water and its energy. It’s just like our new northern inspired kit.”
“This is perhaps the most extreme thing that I have done in my life,” said Nicolas Lombaerts. “I have never been so far away from civilisation. Just preparing for the trip was intriguing, the wetsuits, the lectures on safety, explaining to us what could happen, but fortunately everything went perfectly. I think it would be even more incredible here in winter, in -40 degrees, but in any case I am very impressed. Few people can boast of such an experience. I felt the spirit of the north, even if it wasn’t so cold. The colours of the sea, the colour of the sky, it is incredibly beautiful.”
The new Zenit kit is by Nike and has already gone on sale in the club’s stores. It is also available from www.shop.fc-zenit.ru. On the 30th July the blue-white-sky blues will wear it for the first time on the pitch in the game against Lokomotiv Moscow, which kicks-off at 17:30 at the Petrovsky. Tickets are available at www.tickets.fc-zenit.ru.
More information about the Prirazlomnaya oil platform is available on the website of the company Gazprom Neft.
