Euro 2012 - Ukraine and Poland

PARIS (AFP) — UEFA president Michel Platini admitted Thursday he has been forced to tell the joint hosts of the 2012 European Championships to speed up their preparations for the event.

Ukraine and Poland will bring together Europe’s 16 best footballing nations when they co-host the continent’s footballing showpiece. Neither country has hosted a major championship before.

After a reminder over the lack of perceived progress at the end of January, Platini said Thursday that European football’s ruling body is still concerned.

“We’ve had to wake them up a little and tell them it’s time to get going,” Platini told French radio France Info on Thursday.

“The 2012 Euro will still be held (there), but we’ve told them in the nicest possible way to speed things up a bit.”

Platini warned last month that the co-hosts faced a crucial period after concerns mounted over the state of preparations for the event.

“I have the distinct feeling that the next four to six months will be crucial in order to avoid any critical slippage in infrastructure projects and to protect the credibility of the Euro project,” Platini said in a statement on January 30.

Political instability in the two nations now seems to be over with newly-established governments taking power but there were fears that the launch of investment-intensive projects such as stadiums, airports and motorways has suffered from the instability.

On February 6, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk announced the release from the budget of 100 million euros for the construction of three new stadiums.

Polish sports minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki said the country was preparing to send logistical information to UEFA, including lists of hotels and sports venues able to host the 16 national delegations.

“There is still a slight delay (vis-a-vis initial previsions) but we will be ready in time,” said Drzewiecki.

Uefa has warned Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine and Poland that they must speed up their preparations for the tournament.

Neither Ukraine nor Poland has hosted a major championship before, and Uefa president Michel Platini has stressed his growing concerns over their progress.

“We’ve had to wake them up a little and tell them it’s time to get going,” Platini told French radio France Info on Thursday.

“The 2012 Euro will still be held (there), but we’ve told them in the nicest possible way to speed things up a bit.”

Crucial
Platini first warned the co-hosts back in January, highlighting the importance of the next six months.

“I have the distinct feeling that the next four to six months will be crucial in order to avoid any critical slippage in infrastructure projects and to protect the credibility of the Euro project,” he said.

However, Polish sports minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki has insisted that the necessary preparations will be ready in time.

“There is still a slight delay (with regards to the initial previsions) but we will be ready in time,” said Drzewiecki.

skysports.com

LONDON: Ukraine needs a large influx of foreign direct investment to meet infrastructure requirements for the Euro 2012 finals, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said.

Ukraine is hosting the tournament along with Poland, but both countries have come under fire from European football’s governing body UEFA for not working fast enough on preparations.

“Ukraine is lagging behind most of its eastern European and central European neighbours in terms of foreign direct investment in total and FDI per capita,” Hryhory Nemyrya said in an interview with Reuters on Monday.

“There is huge room for improvement, a several times increase between 2008 and 2012,” he said.

Nemyrya estimated $23 billion (12 billion pounds) was needed to put the infrastructure in place, slightly below previous estimates of $25 billion, with the bulk of this money coming from the private sector.

“We have 1,500 kilometres in roads to be built or modernised and almost 100 hotels to build.”

Foreign direct investment in Ukraine rose to $5.2 billion in the first nine months of 2007, from $3.1 billion in the same period in 2006.

Nemyrya is a member of the government of pro-Western Yulia Tymoshenko, voted in as prime minister two months ago.

“One of the systemic issues for the lack of significant FDI in Ukraine was malfunction in the judicial system,” Nemyrya said.

“This is the systemic change the government is committed to achieving, and of course Euro 2012 will benefit.”

A Ukrainian delegation including Nemyrya this week attended a Euro 2012 investment forum for British companies at the headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

EBRD president Jean Lemierre told reporters the bank had invested 800 million euros ($1.19 billion) in Ukraine last year and was looking to inject more in 2008.

“We plan to invest at least one billion euros a year in the private sector, we are trying to support the competitiveness of the Ukrainian economy,” Lemierre said.

(Editing by Rex Gowar)

LONDON (Reuters) - Ukraine needs a large influx of foreign direct investment to meet infrastructure requirements for the Euro 2012 finals, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said.

Ukraine is hosting the tournament along with Poland, but both countries have come under fire from European football’s governing body UEFA for not working fast enough on preparations.

“Ukraine is lagging behind most of its eastern European and central European neighbours in terms of foreign direct investment in total and FDI per capita,” Hryhory Nemyrya said in an interview with Reuters on Monday.

“There is huge room for improvement, a several times increase between 2008 and 2012,” he said.

Nemyrya estimated $23 billion (12 billion pounds) was needed to put the infrastructure in place, slightly below previous estimates of $25 billion, with the bulk of this money coming from the private sector.

“We have 1,500 kilometres in roads to be built or modernised and almost 100 hotels to build.”

Foreign direct investment in Ukraine rose to $5.2 billion in the first nine months of 2007, from $3.1 billion in the same period in 2006.

Nemyrya is a member of the government of pro-Western Yulia Tymoshenko, voted in as prime minister two months ago.

“One of the systemic issues for the lack of significant FDI in Ukraine was malfunction in the judicial system,” Nemyrya said.

“This is the systemic change the government is committed to achieving, and of course Euro 2012 will benefit.”

A Ukrainian delegation including Nemyrya this week attended a Euro 2012 investment forum for British companies at the headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

EBRD president Jean Lemierre told reporters the bank had invested 800 million euros ($1.19 billion) in Ukraine last year and was looking to inject more in 2008.

“We plan to invest at least one billion euros a year in the private sector, we are trying to support the competitiveness of the Ukrainian economy,” Lemierre said.

Poland’s infrastructure minister, Cezary Grabarczyk, announced that Poland will build more than 3,000 kilometers of motorway by June 2012. Road investments will require approx. PLN 83bn (€23bn) in funding, which in the long term will come from EU subsidies.
In the next four years Poland plans to complete 900 km of motorway and over 2,100 km of express roads. These investments will include roads linking Warsaw with Poland’s western border, the whole of the A1 motorway from the north down to the southern border, express roads linking cities hosting Euro 2012 matches as well as routes between Poland and Ukraine. Mr Grabarczyk promised that Poland will complete all the necessary motorways before the inauguration of Euro 2012.

polishmarket.com

KIEV, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine will invite UEFA chief Michel Platini to tour a new stadium to see for himself the ex-Soviet state’s progress in preparing to co-host the Euro 2012 finals, President Viktor Yushchenko said on Tuesday.

“In a few weeks, I will invite Mr Platini to Dnipropetrovsk,” local news agencies quoted Yushchenko as saying after a visit to a stadium nearing completion in the central city to be used in the 2012 tournament.

“I would like it known that Dnipropetrovsk is showing a high level of readiness of its sports facilities for Euro 2012.”

A UEFA delegation is visiting Ukraine this week to inspect building sites and other facilities.

Platini last month expressed alarm that Ukraine and their co-hosts Poland were behind schedule in their preparations and the coming months would prove “decisive”.

Authorities have since taken a decision to allow Kiev’s main stadium to be used by dismantling parts of an adjacent shopping centre which threatened to disqualify it on safety grounds.

The western city of Lviv, another 2012 host city, last month appointed an Austrian contractor to build a new stadium.

At the meeting with media after his visit to “Metalurg” stadium building sight in Dnipropetrovsk President Viktor Yushchenko has said that he is satisfied with a course of preparation to Euro 2012 in the city. President’s press office reports.

According to the President, he intends to invite UEFA president Michel Platini to visit Dnipropetrovsk so Mr. Platini could himself examine city’s level of preparedness to Euro 2012.

V. Yushchenko also positively valued overall state of affairs in Dnipropetrovsk regarding gearing up to Euro 2012 saying that the city has a clear cut plan of measures for all establishments. According to the President, this allows organizing work rapidly and effectively. Dnipropetrovsk, according to him, should become a positive example for all cities involved in Euro 2012.

ForUm

UEFA President Michel Platini is deeply concerned with the failure of Ukraine to meet its deadlines in preparing for Euro-2012, Platini says in his letter to Viktor Yushchenko and Premier Yulia Tymoshenko disseminated by The Gazeta 2000. “Although several months have passed from the UEFA decision to hold Euro-2012 in Ukraine, no tangible progress has been made, and projects in Lviv and Kyiv will have to be implemented against shorter deadlines. As a result, these project will be completed later than specified by our demands,” Platini goes on to say. -
This statement by UEFA president runs counter to numerous assurances by Lviv city Mayor Andryj Sadovyj to the effect that UEFA inspectors are pleased with Lviv’s preparations for Euro-2012.

Comment by ZIK

Below, you will find the critical lines of the Platini letter:

As shown by the recent reports by UEFA experts, some construction and infrastructure modernization projects in Kyiv and Lviv have been stalled.

As regards new stadium construction, there is a lack of coordination on the government level about the venues and constructions projects, absence of financial documents confirming the available funding for construction as well as certain discrepancies between the approved plans and the current situation. Although several months have passed since the UEFA decision to hold the tournament in Ukraine, there is no real progress and the projects will have to be implemented in a much shorter time.

As regards the general infrastructure, there are no general plans and detailed schedules for the realization of such projects. Moreover, there is no coordination and delineation of responsibilities among various government and local bodies.

The Ukrainian authorities must marshal all their efforts to create an effective agency to implement all investment projects for Euro-2012.

UEFA is fully prepared to render maximum administrative support and its expertise to realize these projects, Michel Platini assured.

zik.com.ua

This was noted by Family, Youth and Sports Minister Yuriy while meeting with Chief of the Donetsk regional Administration Volodymyr Lohvinenko to learn measures taken to gear up to the Euro 2012.

Lohvinenko spoke about construction of the “Victory” hotel in Donetsk and talked on construction of the “Donbas Palace”. Yuri Pavlenko also toured the international track and field tournament “Pole Stars”.

nrcu.gov.ua

President Victor Yushchenko held a meeting today with mayors of the cities scheduled to host EURO 2012 events. The meeting was dedicated to state of affairs with preparation to the arraignments, according to the President`s press-office.

Opening the meeting the President stressed that every city bears responsibility for both working out a plan of preparation measures and financing them. He also noted that all hosting cities currently have equally complicated problems. One on the most critical is slow pace of stadiums building. Particularly problematic cities in that area, mentioned by V. Yushchenko are Odessa, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Lviv.

The President also drew attention to problems with organizing proper transport infrastructure. He urged Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv and Kharkiv mayors to stir up works on enhancing cities airports. Railroad, highway and bus communication infrastructures according to V. Yushchenko require urgent modernization too. Besides service quality should be increased especially by building new European level hotels.

From their part few city mayors suggested that their cities are given special status for the time of preparation to EURO 2012 and the event itself. It was proposed that in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Kharkiv 50% of profits taxes except for municipal sector were used to finance preparation measures and the championship itself.

unian.net