During the final part of the European Football Championship in 2012 Ukraine was visited by nearly two million foreign visitors said Minister of Infrastructure Borys Kolesnikov in an interview with the Italian edition. According to him, every guest has left in Ukraine an average of $ 400, that is, in general, fans will have spent nearly a billion dollars.
– Mr. Kolesnikov, before the start of the championship, some European media have expressed their concerns regarding the organization and holding of Euro 2012, pointing to the danger of outbreaks of racism, fights fans of riot, unlawful arrest. After the event it turned out that the championship was one of the most peaceful in recent times.– Throughout its history in Ukraine, there were no problems with racism. Even during the Soviet era. In addition to the organization, it should be noted themselves Ukrainians, who were actively involved in helping foreign guests. We have demonstrated their ability to organize the third largest sporting event after the Olympics and World Cup.
– How many tickets were sold and how much – no?
– According to our calculations, it sold 700,000 tickets. In fact, all available tickets were sold. In addition, 1,500 tickets were handed over to the sponsors, but it did not depend on us.
– But how can one explain the fact that a few hours before the matches on the streets there were many people who sell tickets?
– There were not many. And it is, above all, the fans who bought tickets, hoping their team will be in the finals and then decided to sell them.
– How many visitors came to Ukraine for the past three weeks to attend the European Championships?
– According to our preliminary estimates, 1.8 millions people. Given that during his stay in Ukraine, one person on average spent $ 400, plus other miscellaneous income, for the moment we can say that the event brought back the costs in the amount of one billion dollars.
– Let’s talk about expenses. There was much speculation about the size of investment. Some local media said on state investment of $ 6.5 billion.
– It’s inflated figures: the total value of expenditures amounted to about $ 5 billion. Most funds went to road construction. From 800 to $ 850 million was directed to the construction of stadiums. Two of them were built from scratch, but the biggest cost required reconstruction of the stadium in Kiev.
Also, just 18 months we have built four airports that meet the highest international standards. In Kiev, we completed construction of the runway and new terminal. Fifty million euro has been directed to operating costs, among them – translators, selection and training of staff.
