Ukraine parliament passes critical funding for Euro 2012

Kiev - Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday authorised billions of dollars of funding critically needed for the Euro 2012 football championship. Ukraine's legislature, the Verhovna Rada, approved some 1.3 billion dollars in state funding for Euro 2012 preparations, while for the first time also making it legal for the central government to draw money directly from National Bank of Ukraine reserves (NBU), if the government is otherwise unable to finance the work. Ukraine's government since October has been battling a tide of red ink in the national budget brought on by the international financial crisis, and falling tax receipts. Repairs, particularly to bring Ukrainian roads and airports up to standards specified by the UEFA to get ready for Euro 2012, have been stalled for months due lack of government cash. Ukraine's state bank the NBU despite the poor economic climate has some 25 billion dollars in reserves, but until passage of the Wednesday bill had been barred by law from transfering funds from its reserves to support any particular government programme. The legislation approved by parliament allows the NBU to cover all cash shortfalls in the government's Euro 2012 preparation plan, with payments made quarterly. A strong 373 member majority out of Ukraine's 450-member legislature voted in favour of the bill, as well as legalising direct NBU support to Euro 2012 preparation effort. The money will ,according to the government Euro 2012 preparation plan, go primarily towards overhauls to the country's transportation infrastructure. Airports, roads, the railroad system, and public transport in game cities are all slated for repairs. Only 10 per cent of a planned 333 million dollars for 2009 government-financed transportation projects had been paid out by mid- June, the Interfax news agency reported. In Ukraine, repairs to football stadia are the responsibility of privately-owned professional clubs in host cities, rather than of the government. Progress on the overhaul of Ukrainian stadia is, according to observers, relatively well advanced, with work moving at a good pace in the host cities Kiev, Donetsk, and Kharkiv; and at slower pace in Ukraine's fourth designated game venue Lviv. Ukraine's hospitality industry is thought to be the weakest part of the former Soviet republic's hosting package, with the capital Kiev containing several dozen mostly expensive hotels, and other host cities practically unable to handle more than a few hundred guests a time. Ukraine's government has suggested the hotel shortage may be remedied with cruise ships tied up on rivers in the game venue cities, but UEFA officials have said Euro 2012 fans should have lodging meeting conventional international standards. Poland and Ukraine in April 2007 were named co-hosts of the Euro 2012 tournament. Lack of funding has dogged the Ukrainian efforts to improve sports and tourist infrastructure. UEFA officials in May warned Ukraine could lose its share of the event and have games scheduled in Ukraine moved to Poland, if the Ukrainian preparation effort were not improved.