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| Photo: PHL |
Even the Orange government did not risk kicking off without the head of the Football Federation of Ukraine Hryhoriy Surkis, who remained the key lobbyist of Ukrainian football in the world over the entire five years of Yushchenko’s presidency. The Akhmetov-Kolesnikov group convinced President Yanukovych that hosting Euro 2012 can be fully done without Surkis’ involvement. After gaining supervision over Euro 2012, Akhmetov’s people are trying to take away the place in the sun of the current national federation’s chief.
In order for Akhmetov’s people to gain supervision over Euro 2012, the special post of a vice premier was created in the Cabinet, which Akhmetov’s closest ally Kolesnikov assumed. Besides, the former head of the Professional Football League Ravil Safiullin was appointed Minister of Family, Youth and Sports and Volodymyr Kovalevskiy, the former head of the architectural design crew for the construction of Donbas Arena, was named the head of the restored National Agency for Preparations for Euro 2012. Kolesnikov’s former deputy in the Donetsk Oblast Council Oleksandr Zats, who recently returned to the VR, was named the head of the VR Sub-Committee for Preparations for Euro 2012.
Under the new program, around UAH 30 mn will be allocated for the preparations for Euro 2012. One can rest assured that not a cent of this money will bypass representatives of the Akhmetov-Kolesnikov group.
As an example, Head of the Donetsk Oblast Council Andriy Shyshatskiy, who is one of Akhmetov’s men, conveyed the Donetsk airport to the municipal ownership. At the moment, millions of budget funds are being spent on its reconstruction in preparation for Euro 2012.
This means that Kolesnikov, not the oblast administration, will have complete control of financing of the project. In addition to that, in April the Cabinet conveyed to state ownership the entire property complex of the Lviv municipal enterprise Administration for the Construction of Stadiums in Lviv and the Donetsk company Altkom controlled by Kolesnikov was designated the general sub-contractor for the construction of the Lviv stadium.
In this context, it is worth adding that Kolesnikov as vice premier has been frequently visiting Lviv. This is not only due to the fact that Lviv is lagging behind other Ukrainian cities in terms of preparation for the championship, but also because there is a need to run a tight ship over the strategic interests of this powerful financial group in the Lviv oblast. After all, it established close ties with Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadoviy long before Yanukovych was elected president.
Meanwhile, the interests of this group are not limited to getting a slice of the budget pie and strengthening business positions in certain regions for Euro 2012. The troubles and tribulations of preparing Ukraine for the championship put Akhmetov’s men on the front-burner in terms of relations with UEFA. At the same time, the Donetsk clan continues to actively criticize the FFU headed by Surkis and hang the responsibility for all the problems in Ukrainian football on his shoulders.
In the end, this may result in Surkis being squeezed out of Ukrainian football and the system of relations of Ukraine with international football organizations. The question is whether European football officials will agree to such a scenario.
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