England have now played their first game and drew 1-1 against France in Ukraine, the co-hosts of Euro 2012.
For the football, 2,000 kilometers of roads got commissioned, airport capacity almost doubled in each host city, and four stadiums either get built or undergo renovation. How much did it all cost? No one really knows. The incoming Yanukovych administration abolished competitive tendering for most contracts in 2010 which meant a rake-off of more than a third on most projects. The government boasts that about 1 million tourists will come to Ukraine. However, according to Erste Bank, only 500,000 fans planned visitsand the Ukrainian association of small hotels and apartments predicted less than 400,000 visitors during the championship.
No doubt ordinary Ukrainians will provide visiting football fans with a warm welcome but supporters should ask them why Oleksandr Yanukovych, the president’s oldest son, is also the world’s richest dentist, with a fortune of $96.4 million? Family members and their cronies are getting rich through the smash-and-grab predatory power of possession of the Ukrainian state machine.
In 2011's Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index Ukraine slipped to the 152nd place of 183 countries assessed. According to Wikileaks cables Ukraine under President Yushchenko is described as a kleptocracy, not a democracy.
Money drives the political system. Several fake opposition parties have appeared to split the opposition vote, and more will arrive before October parliamentary elections.
Rental apartments rates have increased reaching 200 euros ($250) per night for a one-bedroom unit; hotel prices have also skyrocketed. Michel Platini complained about "bandits and crooks" being responsible for Ukraine’s skyrocketing hotel prices. This is not just a question of supply and demand. There is evidence of 'mafia' protection rackets forcing hoteliers to raise prices by more than they wished. The Ukrainian elite has built several new high-end hotels that they themselves use, but middle-market chain hotels are still under-represented in the local market. In the Ukrainian economy big business dominates.
The European championship could have changed Ukraine, said Ukraine soccer fan, Alexander Omelnitskiy, but it never got beyond a chance. Instead officials “typically misused the state funds while entrepreneurs just want to make quick money from Europeans,” he says.
Yuriy Yakovlev, living in host city Lviv, thinks "Euro 2012 will benefit restaurants owners and oligarchs who laundered money from construction projects,” he said. “Ordinary people will not taste Euro 2012. This event is not for them.”
For the football, 2,000 kilometers of roads got commissioned, airport capacity almost doubled in each host city, and four stadiums either get built or undergo renovation. How much did it all cost? No one really knows. The incoming Yanukovych administration abolished competitive tendering for most contracts in 2010 which meant a rake-off of more than a third on most projects. The government boasts that about 1 million tourists will come to Ukraine. However, according to Erste Bank, only 500,000 fans planned visitsand the Ukrainian association of small hotels and apartments predicted less than 400,000 visitors during the championship.
No doubt ordinary Ukrainians will provide visiting football fans with a warm welcome but supporters should ask them why Oleksandr Yanukovych, the president’s oldest son, is also the world’s richest dentist, with a fortune of $96.4 million? Family members and their cronies are getting rich through the smash-and-grab predatory power of possession of the Ukrainian state machine.
In 2011's Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index Ukraine slipped to the 152nd place of 183 countries assessed. According to Wikileaks cables Ukraine under President Yushchenko is described as a kleptocracy, not a democracy.
Money drives the political system. Several fake opposition parties have appeared to split the opposition vote, and more will arrive before October parliamentary elections.
Rental apartments rates have increased reaching 200 euros ($250) per night for a one-bedroom unit; hotel prices have also skyrocketed. Michel Platini complained about "bandits and crooks" being responsible for Ukraine’s skyrocketing hotel prices. This is not just a question of supply and demand. There is evidence of 'mafia' protection rackets forcing hoteliers to raise prices by more than they wished. The Ukrainian elite has built several new high-end hotels that they themselves use, but middle-market chain hotels are still under-represented in the local market. In the Ukrainian economy big business dominates.
The European championship could have changed Ukraine, said Ukraine soccer fan, Alexander Omelnitskiy, but it never got beyond a chance. Instead officials “typically misused the state funds while entrepreneurs just want to make quick money from Europeans,” he says.
Yuriy Yakovlev, living in host city Lviv, thinks "Euro 2012 will benefit restaurants owners and oligarchs who laundered money from construction projects,” he said. “Ordinary people will not taste Euro 2012. This event is not for them.”
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