Ukraine Dismisses EU Plea Over Jailed Tymoshenko

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov on Wednesday brushed aside Western concerns about his government's treatment of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko as misguided and unwarranted, indicating that Kiev was unlikely to change its mind.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.
The EU has condemned the sentencing of former prime minister Tymoshenko - the top opponent of President Viktor Yanukovich - to seven years in prison last October as politically motivated.

Tymoshenko, who was found guilty of abusing her powers as prime minister in forcing through a 2009 gas deal with Russia, has denied any wrongdoing and said Yanukovich was pursuing a personal vendetta against her.

The European Union has urged Tymoshenko's release and warned Ukraine its 27 members would otherwise refuse to ratify landmark agreements on political association and free trade with Kiev.

Azayov agreed to European Parliament proposals to send a monitor to Tymoshenko's appeal hearing and a group of medical experts to assess the health of the opposition leader who is now being treated for chronic back pain.

But Azarov, who addressed the European Parliament on Wednesday during his visit to Brussels, indicated his government would not yield to Western pressure, according to a transcript of his speech provided by the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels-based lobbying group for Ukraine.

"I am convinced that we shall overcome temporary difficulties created by our political opponents, unscrupulously misinforming and deluding you, using certain ... manipulative techniques and hired provokers-professionals," Azarov said.

"It is clear that the status of a politician, MP, or even former prime minister must not be used as an excuse to commit crimes," he said in an apparent reference to Tymoshenko.

Azarov also said that "not all defense procedures have been exhausted" in Tymoshenko's case.

A Ukrainian court looking into her appeal put off hearings until June 26 this week, sidestepping the difficult decision ahead of the European soccer championship which Ukraine will co-host with Poland next month.

Some European leaders have called for a political boycott of the championship, although the bloc has yet to come up with a unified position.

In his English-language speech, Azarov launched a counter-attack on critics.

"It is in vogue these days to criticize Ukraine, and to let rip short-term emotions and long-held stereotypes. The image of Cato the Elder, the Roman commander, and his famous bywords 'Carthage must be destroyed' come readily to mind," he said.

"It is no secret that the current state of Ukraine's relations with the EU is far from the best it can be. The very wide spectrum of our previous relations has narrowed to become hostage to just one sole issue. This is both counter-productive and short-sighted."

Tymoshenko, 51, was a leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution protests that dealt a blow to Yanukovich by forcing a re-run of the presidential election which he had won.

Yanukovich lost the re-run but staged a successful comeback in 2010.

Since then, Tymoshenko and a number of her allies in the opposition have faced criminal charges in what she has described as a campaign of repression.

Yanukovich has said his government was merely fighting corruption.

Source: One Page News

Growing Ukrainian-Russian Arms Export Cooperation

KIEV, Ukraine -- Although President Viktor Yanukovych publicly portrays his foreign policy as multi-vector – balancing between Russia and the West – in reality, there has been a substantial shift in Ukraine’s orientation toward Russia.

Russia's Dmitri Medvedev (L) and Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovych.
Yanukovych’s multi-vectorism is pro-Russian in contrast to the pro-Western multi-vectorism pursued by President Leonid Kuchma.

After coming to power in February 2010, Yanukovych set in motion policies that would speed up security cooperation with Russia while downgrading the importance of cooperation with NATO that had been a priority for three Ukrainian presidents since January 1994 when Kiev joined the Alliance’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.

Chief of the General Staff of Ukraine Colonel General Hryhoriy Pedchenko said, “We have substantially expanded the range of our military cooperation [with Russia]. If last year we had 40 [joint] events, this year there would be 81 events”.

Ukrainian-Russian security cooperation has grown in three areas:

First, Russia and Ukraine have reduced their rivalry in the international arms market.

Yanukovych established a new arms export agency, Ukroboronprom, which increased presidential control over arms export policies and led to tighter integration with the Russian military-industrial complex (MIC).

Dmitri Salamatin, a Russian citizen until 2005, headed Ukroboronprom until being appointed Ukrainian Minister of Defense this year.

Second, joint ventures between Ukrainian and Russian companies have grown, especially in aircraft and shipbuilding.

Ukrainian state-owned aircraft manufacturer, Antonov, transferred its assets to a new Russian-Ukrainian joint venture, OAK (United Aircraft Construction Corporation)-Antonov.

Russia has expressed an interest in cooperating in the entire Antonov aircraft range, especially on An-148, An-158 and An-178 models, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Yezhel revealed.

This joint venture could threaten Ukraine’s ability to control the manufacturing and sales of its aircraft.

In addition, Ukrainians have provided parts for Tu-22M3 long-range missile carrying bombers and Tu-95MS strategic bombers, which Russian pilots use to train to fire air-launched cruise missiles.

Negotiations are on-going to establish a joint venture in shipbuilding as well, because both countries’ shipyards are working under capacity.

The Russian Navy’s stationing on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast is also being extended and enlarged.

Following the signing of a 25-30 year lease on the Sevastopol base in April 2010, Russia also plans to supply new vessels to the Black Sea Fleet.

Space cooperation is also long-standing.

Ukraine supplies the Zenith-3SLBF booster rocket with a new upper stage Fregat-SB that sends Russian spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome into orbit.

Ukraine’s Pivdenmash (Yuzhmash) facility, which in Soviet times was one of the world’s largest MICs (Kuchma was its last Soviet director), receives many orders from Russia.

“We have splendid relations with the Russian space agency,” Pivdenmash director Viktor Shchohol said.

“The scale of our cooperation with Russia reaches 70 percent, which boosts output at enterprises in our industry”.

Military and civil Ukrainian-Russian nuclear cooperation has existed since the collapse of the USSR, and it is also set to grow, Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of the Russian nuclear energy agency, said.

Russia plans to build a nuclear fuel production plant in Ukraine and “there may be interesting joint projects in uranium extraction,” he added.

Russia expected to invest large sums of money into “TurboAtom,” Ukraine’s leading turbine producing company located in Kharkiv, following the creation of a Ukrainian-Russian nuclear joint venture.

Russian-Ukrainian civil nuclear cooperation is also strongly engaged on the nuclear fuel cycle.

Since spring of 2011, Ukraine shipped six tankers, each loaded with 60 tons of liquid missile fuel (mélange), to Russia each month for recycling.

In December 2011, 15 kilograms of highly enriched uranium (HEU) was delivered secretly by air from the Kharkiv Physical-Technical Institute (KPTI) to Moscow and transported to the Elektrostal plant near the capital city.

The transfer was in accordance with President Yanukovych’s April 2010 commitment to President Barrack Obama to remove HEU stocks from Ukraine.

In return, the United States promised to supply low enriched uranium for nuclear research reactors and provide a $25 million investment for the construction of a new nuclear research facility at the KPTI.

Third, Ukraine and Russia have increased their cooperation in countries that were traditional markets for Soviet arms, such as India, and new Russian markets, such as Iran.

In the Kuchma era, Ukraine and Russia exported arms to antagonistic neighbors Pakistan and India, respectively.

Recently, however, Ukraine signed a contract to supply air-to-air R-27 missiles to India produced by the Ukrainian Artem company.

R-27s are used to equip Su-27, Su-30 and Mig-29 fighters, which are being delivered to India from Russia.

Russia supports this cooperation because “since Soviet times, missiles of this class have been assembled on the territory of Ukraine, and a large share of the parts for the missiles are supplied from Russia,” said Serhiy Zgurets, an expert at the Ukrainian Center for Research on Army, Conversion and Disarmament.

In 2011, Antonov delivered four upgraded An-32 light transport aircraft to India.

In total, 40 of India’s 105 An-32s will be upgraded at the Aviant plant in Kiev, and another 65 will be upgraded at the Indian Air Force base in Kanpur.

The Aviakon aircraft repair plant in Konotop also signed a contract to repair India’s Mi-17, Mi-24 and Mi-35 helicopters.

Ukraine and Russia are now also cooperating in the modernization of Indian BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles.

Spetstekhnoeksport, a subsidiary of Ukrspetseksport, signed a contract with the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization to supply Ukrainian ZTD-2 two-stroke composite engines.

The contract is being fulfilled through a Russian-Ukrainian joint venture that will revamp 2,000 BMP-2 engines.

Currently installed on the Indian BMP-2s are Russian UTD-20 engines with 280 horsepower.

These will gradually be replaced by Ukrainian ZTD-2 engines produced by the Kharkiv engine design bureau.

The ZTD-2 engines have 400 horsepower and operate better in high temperatures.

Ukraine has even signed a major contract with Iran to assist Russia in fulfilling its contractual requirements in the assembly of An-158 planes in Iran.

Parts produced at Kiev’s Antonov plant will be sent to Voronezh, Russia, where Antonov planes are also assembled under license.

Moreover, last year Iran was able to bypass EU sanctions by buying a German Theodor Heuss airbus, used to transport German chancellors, through Ukrainian intermediaries.

The plane landed in Kiev in July 2011 and left for Iran in November with a different tail number registration.

President Kuchma’s national security adviser, Volodymyr Horbulin, described Kuchma’s multi-vectorism as “Integration with Europe, Cooperation with the CIS.”

Yet, Yanukovych’s multi-vectorism – focused on ever closer economic and defense industry collaboration with Russia – has flip-flopped Ukraine’s multi-vector foreign policy to “Cooperation with Europe, Integration with the CIS.”

This trend is likely to have domestic political implications in Ukraine in the coming years.

When Yanukovych comes up for reelection in 2015, he will likely be faced with low approval ratings.

Consequently, in order to mobilize the eastern Ukrainian electorate, he will probably propose deeper economic integration with Russia and the CIS, including joining the CIS Customs Union.

Such a move will enable Yanukovych to maintain his monopoly of power in Ukraine and be preferable to agreeing to Western demands to release Yulia Tymoshenko and other political prisoners.

Source: Eurasia Daily Monitor

Rejection Of EU-Ukraine Association Process Would Betray People And Eastern Partnership Principles, Says Fule

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule has stated that association is a common goal of Ukraine and the EU, and the rejection of this process would "betray the people and principles of the Eastern Partnership."

Stefan Fule
Fule said this at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday while summing up the results of a meeting of the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council.

The Association Agreement will bring benefits to both Ukraine and the EU, while Ukraine's territorial integrity will be respected, the EU commissioner said.

"There's no plan B. We believe that the rejection of the association process would be a betrayal of the people and the principles of the eastern Partnership. But this does not mean that we will compromise on the issues of democratic values, human rights, fundamental freedoms and the supremacy of law, which are a part of this agreement. Ukraine's commitment to European integration will be assessed on the base of its commitment to reform," he said.

The EU commissioner once again expressed hope that Ukraine will find a solution to the problems of politically motivated persecutions and selective justice.

While speaking about reforms, Fule noted the constitutional reform in Ukraine and said that the president of Ukraine set up a constitutional assembly.

He added that this process should be supported comprehensively and transparently.

"We have positive signals that Ukraine is ready to resume a serious discussion on the modernization of the gas transit system, which could open the way for receiving assistance from the EU and international financial organizations," he said.

Fule outlined a number of other issues that should be tackled by the sides. In particular, he said that Kiev and Brussels decided to start an informal dialogue on the business climate.

"This was a serious and sometimes difficult discussion. The measures we are expecting to be taken by Ukraine are absolutely clear, and political association and economic integration are our common goal," he said.

Source: Interfax-Ukraine

Ukrainian Court Postpones Tymoshenko Appeal

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Ukraine's prime minister said Tuesday that his predecessor had been correctly convicted of abusing her powers in signing a gas deal with Russia, and invited European observers to watch her appeal.

June 29, 2011: In this file photo, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko appears during a trial hearing at the Pecherskiy District Court in Kiev, Ukraine.
On a visit to Brussels, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said his predecessor, Yulia Tymoshenko had been convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison by a judiciary that was free and independent.

Tymoshenko's appeal, however, was postponed in Ukraine on Tuesday on what her lawyers called political grounds.

Azarov invited observers from the European Union nations to Ukraine to watch the appeal process.

"They can review the documents. They can learn more about the procedure and they can listen to the arguments," Azarov told reporters through a translator.

Azarov said it was already clear she falsified documents that led Ukraine to pay $8 billion a year extra for a gas contract with Russia.

Last year, the prosecutor office said Tymoshenko's actions cost the state $440 million in damages.

The 27-nation European Union has criticized her sentence as being politically motivated.

Tymoshenko has accused President Viktor Yanukovych, the longtime rival who narrowly defeated her in the 2010 presidential election, of jailing her to prevent her from posing a challenge in October parliamentary elections.

Prosecutors argued Tuesday that the appeal should be postponed because Tymoshenko is undergoing medical treatment for a back condition in a hospital in Kharkiv, the city where she is imprisoned, and would be unable to appear in court in Kiev, the capital.

In ruling in favor of the prosecution, the High Specialized Court for Civil and Criminal Cases set a new date of June 26, which falls near the end of the European soccer championship.

Some EU officials and governments have vowed to boycott the games in Ukraine over Tymoshenko's imprisonment.

Tymoshenko's lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, condemned the postponement.

"Today's decision is complete nonsense on the level of the country's highest court," he told reporters.

"Today, Yanukovych has again spat in the face of Europe."

He said the delay was aimed at preventing Tymoshenko from appealing to the European Court of Human Rights, which can be done only after the appeals process has been exhausted at home, but Vlasenko said they would go ahead and do so anyway.

Azarov insisted Ukraine's judicial institutions were impartial and invited EU observers to come check it during Tymoshenko's appeal.

''We are ready to invite to this process the representatives of the judicial services of the european countries. They can review the documents. They can learn more about the procedure and they can listen to the arguments," he said.

Source: Fox News

Don’t ‘Humiliate’ Us, Yanukovych Tells EU

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Viktor Yanukovych, in apparent defiance of the European Union’s pressure over the treatment of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, said Monday he will not allow Ukraine to be “humiliated.”

Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych.
“Ukraine is a young country; it is developing,” Yanukovych said while on a trip to Donetsk, his stronghold.

“When people make suggestions to us, we are grateful. But it is very important that they do not humiliate us. We don’t like that and we will not allow it.”

The comment comes after the warnings of EU leaders about the possible boycott of next month’s Euro 2012 soccer matches in Ukraine.

European Union commissioners have said they will not attend games in Ukraine, and several EU leaders are considering similar action in protest of Kiev’s treatment of Tymoshenko.

Tymoshenko was convicted to seven years in prison in October for abuse of office, in a case that the EU and US describe as politically motivated.

Tymoshenko, 51, is now being treated in a Ukrainian hospital by a German doctor for a back problem and the effects of a 19-day hunger strike, which she started in response to alleged mistreatment by prison guards.

Ukraine denies that she has been in any way abused.

“Whoever wants to come to Ukraine, we would like to see you. Whoever has a reason not to come to Ukraine, that’s their personal business,” Yanukovych said.

“Although this is undoubtedly not very pleasant for us, to put it mildly.”

John Tefft, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and Thomas Melia, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor, visited Tymoshenko in the hospital on Monday.

“They conveyed messages of concern for her treatment from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” the U.S. embassy said in the statement after the visit.

“The U.S. Government continues to be deeply concerned by the treatment of Mrs. Tymoshenko and the conditions of her confinement.”

“We continue to urge the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that Mrs. Tymoshenko receives appropriate medical assistance.

“Moving her to the hospital for treatment by a specialist is a welcome first step in this direction.

In Brussels, some EU foreign ministers played down threats to boycott Euro 2012 games in Ukraine.

Matches will also be played in neighboring Poland.

“I fail to see that attendance or non-attendance at football games is the main instrument of EU foreign policy,” said Carl Bildt, foreign minister of Sweden, which will play in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The Netherlands will also play in Ukraine, and Dutch foreign minister Uri Rosenthal said he was “not talking about a boycott”, while his Luxembourg counterpart, Jean Asselborn, quipped that “it is possible to play good football without too many ministers in attendance.”

Source: Ukrainian Journal

Amnesty International Urges Ukraine Authorities To Implement Police Criminality Law Ahead Of Euro 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Amnesty International today urges Ukraine authorities to begin implementing a law which paves the way for independent investigations into allegations of police violence ahead of the Euro 2012.


The human rights organization says the law is a necessary step to curb widespread police criminality.

"While we welcome the introduction of new safeguards against police torture and ill-treatment, some aspects of the law will not come into force for another five years," said Max Tucker, Amnesty International's campaigner on Ukraine.

"As things stand, fans visiting Euro 2012 are under threat from a criminal police force. Moving quickly to set up an independent body to investigate officers' crimes would be a wake-up call to a force accustomed to getting away with illegal behavior."

Ukrainian prosecutors currently work alongside police officers to solve ordinary crimes, and frequently refuse to initiate criminal proceedings against their colleagues.

The new Criminal Procedure Code allows for a new investigative body to look into crimes by officials.

The code does not make clear exactly what this body will look like, but the provision allows for the creation of an investigative body that is genuinely independent.

On Monday, a Kiev court ordered a new investigation into the death of Ihor Indilo, a student killed by a blow to the head while in police custody two years ago.

CCTV footage showed officer Sergei Prihodko dragging Indilo unconscious into a cell and abandoning him there until he was discovered dead seven hours later.

The following morning, Indilo's parents were told that he had choked to death, but when they saw his body they noticed numerous bruises.

An autopsy revealed he had died of a head injury and found blood in his stomach, which may have been caused by a blow to the abdomen.

In January, the two police officers who arrested, interrogated and left Indilo unconscious, walked free after an investigation by the local prosecutor's office absolved them of responsibility for his death.

Indilo's case is just one of many documented by Amnesty International which highlight the inadequacy of a system that uses local prosecutors to investigate crimes by police.

"The fact that it has taken two years of intense media coverage and a court decision just to get this investigation opened shows how deeply flawed the current system is," said Tucker.

"Without an institution that will hold officers accountable, Ukrainian police will continue to beat and torture as they please. And in all the cases the media doesn’t hear about, they will get away with it."

Amnesty International has reiterated an offer made in October 2011 to work with the government on the design of a new investigative body.

"We have considerable experience working with governments across the globe on designing effective police complaints mechanisms," added Tucker.

"We would be more than happy to share that knowledge with the Ukrainian authorities."

Source: Amnesty International

Ukraine To Host Euro 2012 Despite Boycott Threats: President

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said Monday that the Euro 2012 Soccer Championship will take place in Ukraine despite announcements and threats to boycott the event by several European countries to protest against the alleged maltreatment of the former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Viktor Yanukovych
"I am confident that the European Championship will take place in Ukraine. Politics is politics, but life is life," Yanukovych told reporters during the opening ceremony of the new terminal in Donetsk International Airport on eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine shares the concern of the international community over the situation with Tymoshenko, Yanukovych said, adding that some European politicians' comments on this issue are "distressing" for Ukraine.

Giving a progress details on the Euro 2012 preparations, Yanukovych said Ukraine's infrastructure is completely ready to host the tournament, which starts on June 8.

Tymoshenko, 51, Ukraine's main opposition leader, who is serving a seven-year sentence for corruption, claims she was assaulted by prison guards in jail in Kharkov city, one of the Euro 2012 venues.

Her reportedly maltreatment has sparked a number of calls for a boycott of Euro 2012, which Ukraine will co-host with Poland this summer.

Source: Xinhua

EU Ministers Mull Euro 2012 Boycott Of Ukraine

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- European Union foreign ministers were debating Monday a boycott of this year's European football championship matches played in Ukraine to protest alleged abuse of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton
"We've been very consistent in sending messages to Ukraine about the importance of justice being done and seen to be done," EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said.

When Tymoshenko launched a hunger strike last month after saying she was beaten by prison officials, several European leaders vowed to shun Ukraine during Euro 2012 in protest.

She said Poland, co-host of the tournament, would brief the ministers on the situation.

Ukraine is not a member of the EU, whereas Poland is.

Officials said no formal decision on the move was expected at the meeting on Monday.

Instead, the 27 ministers were expected to agree to jointly decide on any future moves regarding Ukraine, said a senior EU official who could not be named understanding rules.

"It would be more of an undertaking that they won't make any individual decisions (on the boycott) that would give the impression of lack of coordination," he said.

Some participants played down the political significance of a possible boycott of the tournament.

"I fail to see that attendance or nonattendance of football games is an instrument of European policy," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said as he arrived for the meeting.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Ukraine Flubbing Its Chance To Shine

KIEV, Ukraine — The Euro 2012 soccer championship in June is supposed to be Ukraine’s chance to shine: forge closer ties with the West, boost its international standing and aid its struggling economy.

A supporter of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko holds a poster during a meeting of the country's opposition party in Kiev. Lithuania's president has warned Ukraine it could become isolated by the West over the imprisonment and deteriorating health of the jailed former prime minister.
Instead, it’s turned into a major headache.

In a move reminiscent of the Cold War, top EU officials have vowed to boycott matches held in Ukraine over the alleged mistreatment of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Critics warn that fans may be put off by exorbitant Ukrainian hotel prices and that the cash-strapped government has endangered the country by spending as much as $14 billion on the championship.

“This was a chance to show off the country because a thousand journalists will come here,” said Oleh Rybachuk, a member of Mrs. Tymoshenko’s first Cabinet who has become a civic activist.

“Now those thousand journalists will come and write about a million problems.”

“The image, political and economic benefits — I don’t see any,” Mr. Rybachuk said.

Changing times

Ukraine was awarded the Euro 2012 championship just as neighboring Poland was granted the 2007 championship to reward and promote the two football-loving ex-communist Eastern European countries.

Poland is an EU member and Ukraine is aspiring to join.

The Ukrainian economy was booming and the West was infatuated with the country after the 2004 pro-democracy mass protests known as the Orange Revolution brought to power a pro-Western government.

Ukraine is an entirely different story today.

Mrs. Tymoshenko, the charismatic blond-braided Orange Revolution heroine and the top opposition leader, is serving a seven-year prison sentence for abuse of office.

Western countries decried the conviction last year as politically motivated persecution by the regime of President Viktor Yanukovych, whose fraud-tainted election victory Mrs. Tymoshenko helped overthrow in 2004.

Mrs. Tymoshenko, 51, has ended a three-week hunger strike that she started after prison guards allegedly folded her in a bedsheet and punched her in the stomach as she screamed for help.

She already was suffering from debilitating back pain.

Photographs of large bruises on Mrs. Tymoshenko’s abdomen and arms, released by the country’s top human rights official, shocked the international community and prompted top EU officials, including European Union President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, as well as the governments of Austria and Belgium to cancel plans to attend soccer matches in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested she would only visit Ukraine during the championships if Mrs. Tymoshenko’s treatment improves.

Money troubles

“The lack of senior foreign officials attending the tournament is embarrassing for Mr. Yanukovych’s government and will continue to generate bad press for the country,” said Alex Brideau, a Ukraine analyst at Eurasia Group, a U.S.-based firm that advises on geopolitical risk.

In a further embarrassment, Ukraine had to cancel a regional cooperation forum of Central and Eastern European states after more than a dozen leaders refused to attend over the Tymoshenko case.

Financially, the country is also in a bad shape.

The global financial crisis nearly destroyed Ukraine’s economy, causing gross domestic product to plunge some 15 percent in 2009 and it has not fully recovered.

A $15.6 billion rescue loan from the International Monetary Fund has been frozen for more than a year due to Mr. Yanukovych’s reluctance to carry out unpopular austerity measures.

In this situation many wonder if Ukraine can afford Euro 2012.

The government says it has spent some $4.3 billion on building stadiums and upgrading roads and rail transport for the championship.

But total figures that would include construction of government-subsidized hotels, promotional campaigns and staff training have not been released.

The Kiev-based consultancy Da Vinci Analytic Group estimates that Ukraine will spend a total of least $14 billion on hosting the championship, most of it coming from government coffers.

The group estimates that up to $8 billion of that amount will not be returned in the medium term, as tourism is unlikely to significantly rise after the championship.

Co-host Poland will spend even more — $29 billion on upgrading its infrastructure to host the event, according to official figures, but 40 percent of that will be covered by EU funds.

“This is a staggering amount of money to spend on the European championship,” Simon Chadwick, professor of sport business strategy and marketing at Coventry University, said of Ukraine.

He added that much wealthier Britain will spend some $16 billion on the Summer Olympics in London.

“In terms of economic returns, was that the best way to spend the money?”

Ukraine’s top UEFA official disagrees.

“I am convinced that Ukraine needs this project very much,” said Markian Lubkivsky, director of UEFA Euro 2012 in Ukraine. “We are getting integrated into the European community … this is a geopolitical project.”

“We are going to be left with modern infrastructure … we are going to receive lots of guests and I hope that many of them will visit our country in the future.”

Source: The Washington Times