Ukraine’s Euro ’12 Estimates Revised Down by USD5.5bn

Ukraine’s government has revised down estimates of the final cost of preparations for the UEFA European Championships which it is co-hosting with Poland next year.

The latest figure of US$14.5bn is $5.5bn less than the previous $20bn estimate that would be borne by taxpayers. Most of the funding is coming from the public purse, with the rest from the private sector.

Newspaper The Kyiv Post reports that the massive decrease is due to less money needed for building hotels, training facilities and road infrastructure, claiming that the Euro 2012 government program has undergone at least 20 revisions since April 2010.

The report also claimed that Poland is spending about $30.4bn on Euro 2012 preparations, with some financing help from the European Union.

UEFA’s Euro 2012 director Martin Kallen told the Kyiv Post that European soccer’s governing body was indifferent to who was funding preparations, stating: “The important thing is that things are finished on time. We have no real view how things are actually done.”