Nearly three years has passed since the final whistle of the 2012 European soccer championship blew in Kyiv, yet Ukraine is still giving the national agency money that was in charge of preparing for the tournament
Almost Hr 500,000 ($23,000) was allocated in this year’s
budget for the government-run agency with Hr 130,000 having been distributed as
of June 12, according to a letter the Finance Ministry wrote to Radio Liberty.
The agency was in charge of billion-dollar infrastructure
projects intended to upgrade or build stadiums, roads, airports, rail
transportation, as well as other overhauls. Leading up to the soccer
tournament, the agency was heavily criticized for having a bloated budget amid
accusations that it took kickbacks from contractors.
Former Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov justified
the costs because of time constraints and blamed his predecessors for moving
slowly on overhauling the nation’s creaking infrastructure to co-host the
competition on time.
The Financial Ministry, in particular, said that Hr 225,000
was for salary payments, Hr 81,900 for compensation, Hr 15,300 for utility
services, and almost Hr 174,000 for contingencies.
A presidential decree by Viktor Yanaukovych in January 2014,
however, eliminated the National Agency for the Organization of Euro 2012.
When asked to comment on the Finance Ministry’s budget
allocation for the agency, former Infrastructure Minister Kolesnikov told the
Kyiv Post: “That can’t be right! The agency was closed officially. And that half
a million is nothing! Maybe that sum was held to pay debts!”
According to Radio Liberty, almost Hr4 billion was stolen
from the state budget to make preparations for the tournament.
The head of the agency, Russia-born Volodymyr Kovalevsky,
was dismissed in October 2014. He took charge of the agency in March 2010. He
was also in charge of constructing the 50,000-capacity Donbass Arena for
Ukraine’s richest billionaire Rinat Akhmetov.
Ukraine
is paying for the soccer tournament in a different way. This year Ukraine has
included three eurobonds worth more than $1.8 billion maturing in 2017-2018 on the
list of foreign debt to restructure that were issued especially to prepare the
country to co-host the 2012 European soccer championship
