A company involved in the Russian grand prix has been declared bankrupt.
Media outlets including the Spanish agency EFE said Formula Sochi, owned by the government, was declared bankrupt on Monday in a Russian court.
With the key backing of president Vladimir Putin, Russia held its first modern world championship race last October, and is scheduled to host the second edition at the Sochi Autodrom later this year.
Formula Sochi’s troubles actually date back to 2013, when we reported that the indebted race organiser would be liquidated by authorities.
We also reported that the bigger company, promoter and circuit builder Omega, had taken over full responsibility for the race.
EFE said Sochi’s race contract runs until at least 2020.
In March, we reported that Omega had cancelled the Sochi Autodrom’s scheduled May round of the Red Bull Air Race, an obstacle-dodging event for aerobatic planes.
Omega said the "current exchange rate situation" had affected the "balance between the operational costs and costs of the tickets".
But Omega insisted that the Russian grand prix, scheduled for mid October, remained the Sochi Autodrom’s forthcoming "major event of the year".