Recently, there were reports that Ilya Kovalchuk will be signing a contract with the New York Rangers. However, it was not the only news about the Russian forward.
Ilya Kovalchuk has sold his prized BMW
Ilya Kovalchuk auctioned his brand-new BMW X5, the car he received as a reward for winning the gold medal at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. Ilya set a symbolic, but a hefty price of 7.1 million rubles. That price tag represented his jersey number of 71.
Artemi Panarin is the Buyer
No matter the high price, it took barely one day for the car to get its new owner. The winner of the auction was kept in a secret. And finally, Ilya revealed the name of a lucky buyer. It was released that Artemi Panarin, left winger for the Columbus Blue Jackets, had bought the Olympic prized BMW.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgWD–lnk-a/
A call to the New Owner
Pavel Lysenkov of the Sovetsky Sport called Artemi immediately to get more details on that star trade. We’ve translated the call from Russian to English.
“Artemi, tell me more about the deal!”
With pleasure! We played in Philadelphia. I woke up, looked through the Internet media to read the latest hockey news. And suddenly saw an add that Ilya put his car into an auction. A news headline stated that the money would go to charity, to help sick children.
With no hesitation, I told myself that the car would be mine. I wrote Ilya: «What’s with the car? » Negotiated a bit. And now the car is mine.”
“The thing is that I had already some money put away for a charity cause. However, had no clear plans what cause to send it for. I didn’t want to make an error and send my donation to some fishy charitable organizations. Some of them happen to use funds not properly and have some other problems. It would be sad to lose hard earned money for nothing.
But in that deal, I do trust Ilya. And we are on the same page on helping sick children. I have no doubts the money I paid for the car, will find the right place and the right cause. They have selected already a person who will benefit from our help. So, all looks great.
I am very happy!
A Good Cause Has No Price
“With the price of 7,1 mln. rubles, didn’t you overpay? The same model at a car dealership sells for five million rubles. It was even mentioned in a promotional video.”
“I would pay even nine million rubles for that car. Our goal is to help sick kids. The car is just one of means to reach that goal.”
“What are you planning to do with the car now?”
“I like cars. Now I will have a decent ride in Russia, to roam around St. Petersburg.”
Along with his car, Ilya Kovalchuk sold his Olympic jersey – the one in which he became the MVP of the tournament.
The money raised from its sale will go to charity as well.
