Good prospects lie ahead for Ukraine after Euro 2012 European Football Championship, and thanks to the championship Ukrainian government will receive 5% more votes at the elections, political expert Dmytro Vydrin has said.
“The championship is the first case in which the Ukrainian power gave beautiful and overestimated promises and yet kept almost all of them. This is the first time the authorities have promised something and done it. That’s why I estimate that the authorities will get a minimum of 5% extra votes at the elections,” he said, summing up results of holding Euro 2012.
Vydrin noted that even now it is possible to observe the main psychological result of the championship.
“We have been dreaming a lot about the renovation of our country, and I think that it has been renovated psychologically. We have a country that is much better and more open, a very cordial and hospitable country,” the expert said.
In turn, senior advisor of Alfa Bank and board member of the National Bank of Ukraine Roman Shpek said that foreign fans were impressed by Ukraine.
“The ambassadors of the European countries in Ukraine expressed their impressions from the communicating with the citizens of Sweden, Germany, Austria, Italia and Finland, saying that many people found it interesting to stay in Ukraine, and they liked it. When I asked the Swedish Ambassador whether the Sweden fans liked to live on Trukhaniv Island, he said: “Yes, they had just one request, for the fan zone to work not just until midnight. but longer.” I saw many fans in various cities, and they had many pleasant impressions about the country, about the conducted event,” the bank’s representative said.
According to him, a positive factor was that those who criticized Euro 2012 in Ukraine later recognized they had been mistaken.
“It’s very pleasant that the foreign press has already started to talk about their mistakes, and partiality admitted this while covering the events, processes and the level of the preparation of Ukraine for this event. Now there is talk of this being a deliberate campaign,” Shpek said.
The coordinator of the public movement “Honestly,” Oleh Rybachuk, said that after Euro 2012 the flow of tourists to Ukraine might grow.
“Potential fans, who were going to visit Ukraine and decided not to, probably, have regrets. Their friends who visited Ukraine will, I’m sure, have a more accurate view of the country, a more positive impression than that described in the world press. [They were given the impression] that it’s impossible to visit Ukraine without a gun and that you have to go about in an armored car or a tank, that there are raging racists, gangsters, prostitutes and drug addicts all around. Certainly, it was all completely different. It seems to me that the tourist flow to Ukraine may grow, as many people discovered for themselves this amazing European country,” Rybachuk said.
Former Transport Minister of Ukraine Yevhen Chervonenko also said that Ukraine had coped very well with the organization of Euro 2012.
“Ukraine really coped well. I state this fact both as a manager and a person. Ukraine was short of time. Great infrastructure projects were carried out for Euro 2012. There is no doubt that the roads are an advantage. The airports have to be improved for tourists to find it profitable to fly to us, and in order for the interests of private business and the state no to clash. We should be a hub of interest. The geographical location is perfect. This concerns Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Donetsk, first of all,” Chervonenko said.
