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hansomreiste
I wouldn't be surprised at all if Gazprom just backed off and asked Avangard to find another solution.
why Sibir is not backed like Avangard?
I will reply to both issues here.
You named Avangard´s boss Alexander Krylov. Why is he? He is the boss at GazpromNeft´s branch located in Omsk, Siberia. The new arena is co-financed by GazpromNeft not Gazprom. I do not think "GazpromNeft to back offf" for obvious reasons. As you know, GazpromNeft bought the KHL´s shares recently, they own Avangard, their boss Krylov is the KHL Board member. So, the company is heavily involved in hockey.
Why not love for Sibir? You replied to yourself. But using different words, they do not have their "Krylov." We would need to dig into history, at least to 90s to find more deeply answer to your question. But, generally, you replied it.
I do not go into Soviet times, justo start in 90s. Ak Bars, Salavat Yulaev, Magnitka, Avangard became big clubs in 90s, because their had a strong financial backing. Kazan & Ufa teams became symbols for Tatarstan & Bashkiria. Magnitka had a wealthy owner, MMK. Not sure if Avangard was sponsored by GazpromNeft at the time, but I would not be surprised.
You need money to become a strong team. The same story in the NHL. Clubs financed by billionaires. These clubs would mean nothing to the world of hockey without their money. The same in Russia. The United States and Russia are very similar in that aspect.