Internal government auditors recently discovered millions were misspent to increase capacity levels at airports. And millions more were spent on projects unrelated to soccer, like building ice rinks and a heliport located 143 kilometers from the nearest host city.
But after seeing the deplorable state of Ukraine’s pothole-ridden roads and highways this month, the nation couldn’t help but ask whether Euro 2012 was worth it. About $4 billion alone was spent on just 3,454 kilometers of roads, according to the government’s Euro 2012 action plan. By comparison, 153,000 kilometers require repairs. Kyiv, whose annual budget hovers around $2 billion, alone needs $2.5 billion.
Auditors, moreover, found that Kyiv’s refurbished Boryspil Airport hadn’t exceeded 32 percent capacity after Euro 2012. Lviv’s airport – a top tourist destination – hadn’t surpassed 8 percent capacity and Donetsk, where $896 million was spent, operated at just 10 percent capacity.
Ukraine clearly needs infrastructure investments. But the poor nation, with a lowly $3,650 gross domestic product per capita where at least one in three lives in poverty, cannot afford to waste a kopek. Public procurement should be competitive and transparent, so as to minimize corruption, and a lot more thought should go into picking projects.
Instead, the state plans to spend up to $882 million to host the EuroBasket tournament in 2015, and wants to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which will require billions of additional dollars.
So as the next big spending bonanza to host a sporting event approaches, Ukraine’s leaders should take a tram car or metro ride, and ask what the people would rather have: a brand new ski jump and basketball arena or access to decent health care and education.
