You're reading: Kolesnikov: Lottery to raise cash for Euro 2012 preparations

Borys Kolesnikov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, floated the idea on March 24 of establishing a new nationwide lottery to help fund preparations for the Euro 2012 European soccer championship, which Ukraine will co-host with Poland. With the recession sharply eroding state coffers, officials have struggled to fund preparations.

The pace of preparations in Lviv, western Ukraine, are the most troubling. During a March 16 visit to Lviv, Kolesnikov pledged that the central government will scrape up enough cash to help finish stadium and airport construction. While visiting Lviv’s uncompleted stadium (above), Kolesnikov said it was 60 days behind schedule. Meanwhile, officials at the Union of European Football Associations reaffirmed that Ukraine and Poland would be retained as tournament hosts, and that Kyiv – where stadium reconstruction is one year from completion – would host the final. But they warned that only six of the eight cities in both countries may ultimately host games. One UEFA official said preparations in Lviv and the Polish city of Wroclaw are worryingly behind schedule. The other Ukrainian cities to host games include Donetsk and Kharkiv. Brand new stadiums funded by Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man, and billionaire Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, have recently been opened in both cities.