on aggregate against an evolving FC Saransk Lighting. Kuban won at home (1–0), and the second match was a scoreless draw. At the end of the year, the club prepared to compete in the First Division. In early 2001, Kuban's management was assumed by the Krasnodar Krai government. The club's new president was governor Aleksander Tkachyov, who recruited Oleg Dolmatov as head coach to win promotion to the Russian Premier League. Although the club began the season well under Dolmatov, Kuban finished third and failed to win promotion. The 2002 season saw conflicts between the coach and several players during the off-season. After a coaching change, the team rallied to finish fourth. Despite the initial absence of a head coach in 2003, Kuban was in first place after the season's first half. The second half of the season began with a series of defeats which led to another coaching change. Kuban then won 11 consecutive matches (a record at the time for the First Division), finishing second and winning promotion to the Russian Premier League. Poor coaching contributed to an unsuccessful 2004 season. Kuban finished 15th, and were again demoted. The season's only bright spot was a 2–1 home victory over eventual league champions Lokomotiv Moscow. In 2005 Kuban was managed for the first time by a foreign coach, Jozef Chovanec from the Czech Republic. Although the season began well, with the team in first place at the end of the first half, Kuban lost several games early in the second half and finished fifth. The team refused to travel to Nalchik (under attack at the time by militants), and forfeited the match there. Kuban finished with the best defensive record in the league, conceding a club-record 25 goals in 42 matches. Pavel Yakovenko was Kuban's coach in 2006. In first place until the last round, a 0–2 defeat against Khimki dropped the club to second place but they won promotion to the Russian Premier League. The 2007 season began badly; the team did not win any games, and Yakovenko was replaced by Leonid Nazarenko. When Kuban did not improve, Nazarenko resigned as coach (ostensibly for family reasons) but remained with the club. Soferbi Yeshugov had a brief tenure as coach before Nazarenko again stepped in. In 15th place, Kuban finished next to last and was demoted to the First Division but the reserve club finished third place in their