UEFA: Problems remain in Ukraine Euro preparations, Poland on track

Mar 21, 2011, 14:59 GMT

Paris/Kiev - Poland is on track with preparations to host the Euro 2012 football championship but the same cannot be said for co-host Ukraine, UEFA General Secretary Gianna Infantino said Monday.

'Poland is developing fine (but) in Ukraine we have a few problems,' Infantino said during a two day meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee.

Delays in stadium construction in the Ukrainian cities Lviv and Kiev had pushed back a readiness deadline set by the UEFA for the two game venues from June to October, he said.

'I count on the promises of the Ukrainian government,' Infantino said.

Football experts meeting at a round table in Kiev on Monday identified a massive lack of private investment as a key problem in Ukraine's Euro 2012 preparation effort, including the two troubled stadiums.

The Ukrainian government originally planned as much as 80 per cent of funding for stadiums, tourist infrastructure, and transportation network repairs needed for Euro 2012 would come from private investors, said Viacheslav Konovalov, a securities analyst.

Private investors have committed only 14 per cent of funding needed by Ukraine to get ready for Euro 2012, forcing the country's cash-strapped government to finance the remainder, the Interfax news agency reported.

The Lviv and Kiev stadiums both suffered months of construction delays because no private investor could be found to overhaul them, forcing Ukraine's government eventually to use taxpayer money to fund the work.

'In the first place this is an investment disaster, and in the second place, this is a massive public debt,' said Andry Novak, a fiscal analyst.

Ukrainian media have have estimated the total cost of preparing for Euro 2012 at between 40 and 60 billion dollars.

The opening match of Euro 2012 on is scheduled for June 8 2012 in Warsaw and the final on July 1 in Kiev.

Poland's host cities are Warsaw, Poznan, Gdansk and Wroclaw. Ukraine's host cities are Kiev, Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv.

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