While under the city government's ownership, Arsenal struggled financially, resorting to loaning many of its first team's squad players. Soon after election of a new mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi, the city had decreased funding to the club significantly as it sought to reduce its numerous sports holdings and on 13 July 2006 adopted a decision to sell it at auction scheduled on 14 November 2006 and starting at 1.1 mln hryvnias. Preparations to sell the club started earlier and no later than 1 June 2006. The initial auction failed to occur and was rescheduled, while the starting was lowered to 770,000 hryvnias. In May 2007, it was announced that the club would be demoted due to financial issues, however soon afterwards it was revealed that "Arsenal" would be purchased by Ukrainian oligarch, Vadim Rabinovich. The new owner started actively financing the club and its transfers. In January 2009 the Mayor of Kyiv Leonid Chernovetskyi bought Arsenal Kyiv for 1 hryvnia from Rabynovich; Chernovetskiy's 30-year-old son Stepan became the club's president. The following year Rabynovich bought the club back due to the poor management.