Ukraine’s largest bank, PrivatBank, intends to sell Dnipro’s largest sports asset, the football stadium “Dnipro-Arena” and an associated training facility.
The auction is scheduled on the Prozorro.Sales electronic trading platform on Oct. 30.
The starting price is Hr. 150 million ($3.6 million), the bank reported in a press release sent to Kyiv Post by email.
The sports facilities will be sold as lot № 1467. Potential buyers must provide a guarantee deposit of 5% of the starting price (Hr.7.5 million, $182,000) to participate. Bids can be submitted and monitored on the Prozorro.Sales website.
The stadium used to be the crowning jewel of the bank’s previous owner, Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, who loved football.
Kolomoisky owned the Dnipro football club, which reached the European League final in 2014-15. Financial troubles and mounting debts eventually led to the team’s relegation, loss of professional status, and its eventual dissolution in 2019.
The bank is now selling the stadium once used by Dnipro, offloading surplus assets following its transition to state ownership.
The nationalization occurred after the bank’s regulatory capital turned negative and investigations by Kroll uncovered a $5.5 billion fraud, resulting in massive financial losses.
“Dnipro-Arena,” originally opened in 2008 after reconstruction, is a European-class stadium with 31,003 seats. The facility includes a 105×68 m pitch, locker rooms, warm-up halls, a gym, coaches’ offices, media facilities, a 296-seat VIP box, a 550-seat restaurant, and parking for athletes, staff, and spectators. The pitch is equipped with heating, automatic irrigation, and floodlights for evening matches. The stadium is located at 7 Khersonska Street, Dnipro.
The training base, situated in the forest-park area of Prydniprovsk, was built in 1971 and renovated in 2010. It comprises three artificial and four natural fields, a covered football pitch with 506 seats, a players’ residential complex, two office-residential buildings with a medical and recovery center, conference halls, coach meeting rooms, a swimming pool, gym, sauna, and showers. The complex is located at 12 and 14 Mykhailo Didevych Lane, Dnipro.