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KIEV, Ukraine – The June Euro 2012 football championship was Ukraine's chance toshine: forge closer ties with the West, boost its internationalstanding and aid its struggling economy. Instead, it's turned into a major headache. In a move reminiscent of the Cold War, top EU officials have vowedto boycott matches held in Ukraine over the alleged mistreatment ofjailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Critics warn thatfans may be put off by exorbitant Ukrainian hotel prices and thatthe cash-strapped government has endangered the country by spendingas much as $14 billion on the championship. "This was a chance to show off the country because a thousandjournalists will come here" said Oleh Rybachuk, a member ofTymoshenko's first Cabinet who has turned into a civic activist."Now those thousand journalists will come and write about a millionproblems." "The image, political and economic benefits — I don't seeany," Rybachuk said. Ukraine was awarded the Euro 2012 championship along withneighboring Poland in 2007 in a decision meant to reward andpromote the two football-loving ex-Communist Eastern Europeancountries, with Poland already a proud member of the EU and Ukraineaspiring to join. Back then, the Ukrainian economy was booming andthe West was infatuated with the country after the 2004pro-democracy mass protests known as the Orange Revolution broughtto power a pro-Western government. Ukraine is an entirely different story today. Tymoshenko, the charismatic blond-braided Orange Revolution heroineand the top opposition leader, is serving a seven-year prisonsentence for abuse of office. Western countries decried theconviction last year as politically motivated persecution by theregime of President Viktor Yanukovych, whose fraud-tainted electionvictory Tymoshenko helped overthrow in 2004. Tymoshenko, 51, has been on a hunger strike for more than two weeksafter prison guards allegedly folded her in a bedsheet and punchedher in the stomach, as she screamed for help. She was alreadysuffering from debilitating back pain. Photographs of large bruises on Tymoshenko's abdomen and armsreleased by the country's top human rights official, shocked theinternational community and prompted top EU officials, includingEuropean Union President Herman Van Rompuy and European CommissionPresident Jose Manuel Barroso, as well as the governments ofAustria and Belgium to cancel plans to attend football matches inUkraine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested she would onlyvisit Ukraine during the championships if Tymoshenko's treatmentimproves. "The lack of senior foreign officials attending the tournament isembarrassing for Yanukovych's government and will continue togenerate bad press for the country," said Alex Brideau, a Ukraineanalyst at Eurasia Group, a U.S.-based firm that advises ongeopolitical risk. In a further embarrassment, Ukraine had to cancel a regionalcooperation forum of central and eastern European states after morethan 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 2009and it has not fully recovered. A $15.6 billion rescue loan fromthe International Monetary Fund has been frozen for over a year dueto Yanukovych's reluctance to carry out unpopular austeritymeasures. In this situation many wonder if Ukraine can afford Euro 2012. The government says it has spent some $4.3 billion ( 3.3 billion)on building stadiums and upgrading roads and rail transport for thechampionship, but total figures that would include construction ofgovernment-subsidized hotels, promotional campaigns and stafftraining have not been released. The Kiev-based consultancy Davinci Analytic Group estimates thatUkraine will spend a total of least $14 billion on hosting thechampionship, most of it coming from government coffers. The groupestimates that up to $8 billion of that amount will not be returnedin the medium term, as tourism is unlikely to significantly riseafter the championship. Co-host Poland will spend even more —95 billion zlotys ($29 billion, 22 billion) on upgrading itsinfrastructure 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 Europeanchampionship," Simon Chadwick, professor of sport business strategyand marketing at Coventry University, said of Ukraine. He addedthat much wealthier Britain will spend some 10 billion pounds ($16billion) on the summer Olympics in London. "In terms of economic returns, was that the best way to spend themoney?" Ukraine's top UEFA official disagrees. "I am convinced that Ukraine needs this project very much," saidMarkian Lubkivsky, director of UEFA Euro 2012 in Ukraine. "We aregetting integrated into the European community .. this is ageopolitical project." "We are going to be left with modern infrastructure ... we aregoing to receive lots of guests and I hope that many of them willvisit our country in the future." Chadwick, however, pointed out that Greece, now in deep financialcrisis, hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics but then failed to ensurethat the expensive stadiums and training facilities were usedbeyond the games. The Davinci group estimates Greece's financiallosses from the Olympics at $4 billion. "The evidence tends to suggest that the stadiums tend to stay andrust," Chadwick said. Opposition lawmaker Ostap Semerak from Tymoshenko's party hasaccused the government of embezzling up to $3.7 billion ( 2.8billion), by subcontracting friendly firms at inflated prices andthen getting kickbacks. A recent promotional video commissioned by the government caused astir when it became known that the 30-second clip cost $160,000 intaxpayers' money and still ended up as an embarrassment. Criticssneered at the video, in which a group of Ukrainians who will helphost the championship are shown learning English and making ablatant grammar error. Ukraine has already gotten some bed press. UEFA chief MichelPlatini has complained of hotel price gouging and called on thegovernment to stop "bandits and crooks" from ripping off fans. Even a humorous TV ad in the Netherlands has caused controversyover Euro 2012. A Dutch energy company recently aired an ad that advises women tokeep their husbands from attending the Euro 2012 because they arelikely to be seduced by Ukraine's attractive women. Kiev protestedthe ad as "humiliating and discriminatory." ___ Monika Scislowska contributed to this report from Warsaw. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China 3G Mobile DVR , Mobile DVR Recorders Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Mobile DVR With GPS today!
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