JANUARY 14, 2002

Steinhausen and Moscow

THERE are whispers from Germany that Kurt Steinhausen, the boss of the Olympia Reisen travel company, is going to be one of the major supporters of the planned Russian Grand Prix. Steinhausen is heavily involved in the sponsorship of motorcycle sidecar racing but may be looking to expand into automobile racing to help expand his tourist business.

Olympia-Reisen GmbH has been built up over the last 20 years and in 1994 began to organize specialist tours for Germans wanting to visit Russia and Russians want to visit the West. Steinhausen was also involved in the development of Namibia's Skeleton Coast, where he managed to negotiate an exclusive concession from the local government.