A snapshot of Ukraine and Poland on eve of Euro 2012
Baku, June 1 (AZERTAC). Looking at international headlines on the eve of Euro 2012 for Ukraine and Poland is very curious. There is a lot of contrast in the issues the press talks about and hence in the headlines.
There is a difference in the scale of what's going on, to start with. I mean, if Ukraine decides to build infrastructure for a big project like Euro 2012, then it's going to be the lot of it - airports, stadiums, roads hotels, and all in just under two years.
There is a difference in the scope of the problems: if we have a hotel shortage, the media will call it “a crisis”, and the football teams will choose to live outside of Ukraine because of it.
The vocabulary of the headlines in Ukraine and Poland is different. The worlds “boycott,” “political football,” as well as “racism” are next to none in headlines about the Polish preparations. But never will you see a headline like “Cheer up, says PM on Euro 2012 city tour” about Ukraine.
There is a different degree of drama, too. In Ukraine, if you have protests, they will be bare-breasted, and the protesters will damage the trophy while they're at it, as well.
But I believe the biggest drama is yet to hit the headlines. Ukraine has spent $13.6 billion (Hr 108.8 billion) on preparations to the championship, the government said. For comparison, this year's gross domestic product is expected to be $163 billion, according to the World Bank forecast. The expenses make up a huge chunk of that.
The nation will have to pay Hr 1 billion in interest on this debt for years to come, an economist said recently. We can only count on making 500 million euro or so off the tourists. That’s not to say some people haven’t got rich off it: an estimated 40 percent of the money set off for Euro 2012 projects allegedly landed in someone's pockets as payoffs.
Of course, all contracts were freed from tender procedures after Viktor Yanukovych arrived to power, appointed his Cabinet and reshaped the parliament in 2010. As a result, sweet insider deals on Euro-2012-related sites have been a great subject of investigations for journalists, and even some criminal cases have been started at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv, for example.
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