You're reading: Euro 2012 blog: The price of a pint

England’s fans are famous for taking over host cities at major soccer tournaments and drinking countless pints of beer.

Hoping to cash in on the hordes of arriving Three Lions supporters,
local bars upped their prices, at times up to double the normal rate. British
tabloid The Sun claimed beer at Chateau, designated as the base of the official
England supporters’ club, almost doubled overnight from about Hr 30 on Wenesday
to nearly Hr 50 on Thursday. English fan Max Western said he didn’t even know
what the pricing structure was and that he was charged different amounts for
identical beers.

“Once, I went up and was charged Hr 50 and the next it was raised to Hr
70. It was like they were making it up as they went along,” he said.

The tactic backfired,
as fans decided to move their June 14 party to the fan zone on Khreshchatyk and
its cheaper drinks.

 Prices at Chateau dropped slightly on match
day, down to around Hr 35-Hr 40 hr for a pint, and the bar was again full of
English supporters and draped in St. George’s flags.

The damage has been
done for some fans, though.  Jack Barnes
and Western were among the England supporters preparing for the June 15 match
against Sweden at Kyiv’s Olympic Stadium outside in the fan zone instead of inside
at a downtown bar.

“Hr 15 seems about the
average for a beer around here,” Barnes said, adding that it was a good deal at
an official fan zone.

The fan zone had also
raised prices this week, lifting the cost of a pint of Carlsberg from Hr 20 to Hr
25. A vendor said that this change was more related to demand, however, and had
no connection to the imminent arrival of England fans.

Reports of price gouging for the tournament have been prevalent in
Ukraine and are part of the reason why empty seats have been seen at most
matches played in the country. Besides the beer debacle, though, Barnes and
Western have been impressed with what they have seen of Kyiv so far.

“It’s a nice city. There’s really a lot to do,” Western said.

England and Sweden kick off at 9:45 p.m. local time, following the 7:00
p.m. Ukraine-Sweden game that is being played in Donetsk.