Not ready yet
October 2, 2011
Austria's national football team will play Ukraine away in the city of Lviv on November 15.
The stadium is new, built ahead of next year's Euro 2012 football tournament, being hosted by Ukraine and Poland. But there are problems, which UEFA President Michel Platini expressed in a diplomatic fashion on a flying visit to the city.
While the city had made great steps forward, he said, there were still doubts about whether it could meet the requirements of the tournament timetable. And there are other problems as well.
Services such as catering in the country were described as in need of improvement by the marketing director of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Mathias Brandt. Brandt has lived in the country for two years and is supporting Ukraine with preparations in the run up to the tournament.
Efforts are being made to change the situation on the ground. For example, in order to promote Ukraine's beer culture, GIZ has hired the services of catering expert Michelle Diesel - who normally works in a top vocational school in the Austrian city Salzburg.
Diesel, a former Miss Austria, gives barkeeper Rostyslaw Savchak some tips, but keeps them limited.
"In terms of the raw materials, they know what they are doing here," said Diesel, who said she believes there will be a backlog of demand for servicing and maintaining refrigeration equipment.
Those in charge of building the stadium at Lviv have other worries. Just eight months ahead of the kick off of Euro 2012, the building work is unfinished with outdoor facilities barely visible, not to mention that there is no paved access road to the stadium.
Optimism over timetable
Despite this, Volodymyr Onyshuk is sure that it will be possible to adhere to the official timetable: "The official opening is at the end of October. We are duty bound to meet these dates. There is no alternative."
Onyshuk has to be optimistic as he is the state project manager for the building of the stadium. But the GIZ's Brandt thinks more urgency is needed. While he does believe that the tournament in general will be a success, he has some concerns over the venue in Lviv itself.
"It should be alright for the first few trial runs, but when the Austrians come on November 15, they should perhaps pack rubber boots."
Along with a lack of well-built roads in Ukraine there is a particularly stark lack of accommodation. According to GIZ, there are not even two hotel beds for every 1,000 residents in the country. In comparison, fellow host Poland has 24. Countries with a strong tourist industry such as Italy have upwards of 35.
An opportunity to modernize
Euro 2012 is, above all, is a chance for Ukraine to whip its crumbling infrastructure into shape, according to Brandt. That would help to "put the country, with its population of nearly 50 million, on the map."
Positive aspects, such as beautiful landscapes and rich mineral wealth would be more apparent and could lead to greater investment in the country.
Bartender Rostyslav also hopes that the tournament will be good for. He said, he, of course, supports the Ukrainian national team, but the 23-year-old is more interested in his local soccer club, Karpaty Lviv. It is the best team in the world, and it still plays in its own stadium, not the new one.
As Rostyslav says, it is an old stadium, but at least it is not a construction site.
Author: Christoph Kersting / rc
Editor: Sean Sinico