Expensive helipad built in 2011 remains unused

KANIV, Cherkasy Oblast – An $11 million helipad near the gravesite of Ukrainian bard Taras Shevchenko illustrates the excesses and misguided government spending that took place to prepare for and co-host last summer’s Euro 2012 soccer championship.Nineteen months after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the so-called Kaniv helipad still stands virtually deserted, fenced in with barbed wire and watched by several dozen security cameras.  Government officials say the helipad – 143 kilometers from the nearest host city – was built to accommodate Euro 2012 diaspora fans wishing to pay homage to the iconic poet.

It was part of the at least $7.5 billion in taxpayer money spent for the 16 football games hosted by Ukraine, a giant outlay for a nation with a national budget of only about $50 billion and a gross domestic product of only about $180 billion.