Ukraine’s Lviv Contemplating 2022 Winter Olympic Games Bid

Lviv, Ukraine may be the next destination of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games after Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov endorsed a bid for the competition.

Kolesnikov said he is confident of the city’s chances. Interfax quotes Kolesnikov as saying that it would be “advantageous for Lviv to compete for the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics” at a meeting with cabinet ministers earlier this week.

He added, “It’s necessary for us to get the Olympics…A number of countries that have a good winter climate are fighting, and so must we. If we win the right to host the Olympics we’ll secure hundreds of jobs in the Carpathians forever.”

Following the European Football Championship last summer in Lviv, Ukrainian Olympic head Sergei Bubka said that Ukraine was eager to develop its winter sports infrastructure, commenting: “This can bring development to the region. Ukraine was designated as a summer sports region under the Soviet Union. Now we want to develop the mountains there, the infrastructure, resorts.”

Lviv has passed a feasibility study and officials say the city is capable of being an excellent Olympic host.

Bids must be submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ahead of the autumn 2013 application deadline.

Other cities interested in bidding for the 2022 Games include Barcelona, Oslo, Nice, Munich, Brasov and Prahova Valley (Romania), St. Moritz/Davos and Krakow (Poland).