However, buying one in Ukraine drove my American friend into deep frustration. At the Kyiv Main Railway Station, cashiers and employees at the information desk do not know a word of English. Buying a ticket on the Internet is possible… but only if you speak Ukrainian.

Very little time is left before Euro 2012, the event that everyone in Ukraine expects anxiously.

The general condition of unpreparedness is simply amazing. The only hope that the event will ever take off falls in line with an old Ukrainian proverb: It takes a long time for Ukrainians to harness, but they ride very fast.

The roads are urgently being repaired to soften the culture shock for many visitors to the country.

However, rosy expectations related to the inflow of foreign money may be unjustified. Most tourists, who will come to Ukraine for football, are unlikely to ever return. They will certainly tell at home about poor service and angry people in trades and services.

Ukrainian railway is no exception. There is no information in English at the train stations, nor are there any commonly understood signs and labels. Cashiers and information desk officers, of course, do not speak a word of English, even in the international tickets office.

Buying a ticket is no easy task unless you are a Ukrainian or Russian speaker. It is almost guaranteed that foreign guests will be treated in a way that will make them feel guilty for being outsiders.

Buying a ticket via the online "e-ticket" system seems to be a good alternative. But no! The website, while having an «English» button, works only in Ukrainian and Russian.

At the end of the day, my American friend was still able to book a ticket online, using its Ukrainian version. But it cost him a lot of time and frustration. Should I mention the barrier-free environment that is so common to Europeans?

In Kyiv, however, if you have a large suitcase on wheels, the train station is an obstacle course for you, with dozens of big and small thresholds, steps and unequipped underground and above ground passageways. While there are a couple of escalators in Kyiv, other stations, like those in Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Lviv, will be much more difficult.

What can and should be done? Putting up street signs in English could be a good start. Secondly, activating an English-language website for buying tickets online and publishing brochures and maps in English would make such a big difference for foreign visitors. And last but not least, cash desks with English-speaking staff must be open at major transport stations.

These simple measures can help to at least partially solve the problems.

Of course, this can all be done (or not done) deliberately. Certainly, the "helplessness" of foreigners will benefit various "firms" charging for “solving all your problems,” including train tickets. However, not all tourists seek to use such services, and their right to buy tickets by themselves should not be taken away from them.

Zoryan KIS is the executive director of "Fulcrum," a national charitable organization working in the field of HIV-service and human rights. He holds a master’s degree in history.