Taruta-owned Azovinteks will be replaced by a new general contractor to build a Euro-2012 stadium in Lviv, Vice Premier for hosting Euro-2012 football tournament Borys Kolesnykov told journalists March 30 in Lviv.

The cabinet criticised the present general contractor for falling behind schedule and sporadic funding, Kolesnykov said. The Lviv sadium will be built by a consortium of companies, including the foreign ones. ”Later on, I will name the companies. They are Ukrainian, Turkish, probably, Croatian and Macedonian companies,” the VP added.

Meanwhile, Azovinteks (Eastern Ukraine) will continue as subcontractor. “Azovinteks can implement minor projects as they have the equipment and personnel in Lviv. I will inspect the stadium today and will name a new general contractor,” Kolesnykov went on.

Kolesnykov also said the Lviv airport runway will be constructed by the Altkom Co. currently involved in the modernization of a runway in Donetsk.

Source: ZIK (http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2010/03/30/222787)

Croatian national football team coach Slaven Bilic has once again rejected an offer from English Premier League side West Ham United to replace its coach Gianfranco Zola.

Bilic told the Daily Star yesterday (Sun) that he still liked West Ham but, despite Croatia’s failure to make it to the World Cup finals, he had agreed to stay on for the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

He added: “I want to qualify for the European Championships, and nothing is going to change that. I am staying for all my country’s qualifying matches. The players, the staff and the majority of fans wanted me to stay and that is why I decided to carry on. I’m proud to manage my country’s team. I love this job.”

Bilic confirmed that West Ham had been trying to reach him for some time but he insisted nothing could make him break his commitment to the Croatian team.

Source: Croatia Times (http://www.croatiantimes.com/news/Sports/2010-03-29/9953/Bilic_refuses_another_West_Ham_offer)

Martin Kallen, the man responsible for ensuring everything is in place for Euro 2012, is looking for a “new gear” from co-hosts Ukraine and Poland to avoid having to scale back on the number of venues, according to Reuters.

Kallen said he expected round-the-clock toil in Ukraine after work had been “delayed, delayed, delayed” at one stadium that still looked like a building site.

Speaking on a sun-bathed patio overlooking the Mediterranean, a far cry from the bitterly cold winter which has so hampered preparations in eastern Europe, UEFA`s director of operations did not pull his punches.

“They need to get into a new gear,” Kallen told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

From November to February, Ukraine fell further behind schedule as it prepared to co-host the world`s second biggest soccer tournament after the World Cup.

There is now serious catch-up work to be done on stadiums, road construction, hotel upgrades and airports in their summer months ahead to avert a crisis.

“We are currently at an important phase of the project, but there are delays in Ukraine and Kiev due to the harsh winter,” said Kallen, who has overseen operations at European Championships since Portugal in 2004.

“They say it is a five-month delay, I think it is a little bit less, but it still needs to be reduced with more people on the ground and with acceleration of the project.”

Grigory Surkis, who has the task of meeting UEFA expectations as president of the Ukraine football federation, told Reuters that they can meet their deadlines.

“Regardless of the difficult winter which has influenced progress of construction I have every reason to believe that both stadiums will be ready in June or July 2011,” he said.

“In Lviv where the situation is most difficult within 2-3 weeks we hope to see tangible progress but if it does not happen the main contractor will be changed. It is a challenge for all of us. And we will rise to it.”

STILL TIME

The four Polish cities of Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw and Gdansk and the Ukrainian cities of Kiev, Donetsk, Lviv and Kharkiv are set to host the event, and although Kallen has said that if the worst came to the worst it could be staged in six venues, that plan, at the moment, is not being activated.

“I have said the tournament could be played in six venues rather than eight, because from a match schedule this is possible, but this is not a consideration for UEFA at the moment and we are still at eight venues,” Kallen said.

Kiev`s Olympic Stadium, due to host the final on July 1, 2012, has problems with construction of the roof and seating. Lviv is still a building site.

“In Lviv, hopefully, the project can finally go ahead,” Kallen said.

“It was delayed, delayed, delayed. It is a simple stadium but now the work needs to go at full speed and we need to see a lot of things happening on the ground because at the moment what we see are some pillars.

“The new government is willing to go in this direction and they are making a big effort. It is all about financing. The cash flow has to go to the right suppliers and then things can move faster. Construction can be done 24 hours, but not 26 hours.”

Source: Unian.net (http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-369837.html)

Municipal authorities of the cities, which are to stage matches of the Euro 2012 European Football Championship, will receive around 2,000 public transport vehicles from the state leasing company.

Vice Premier in charge of the Euro-2012 preparations Borys Kolesnikov said this in an interview with the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (Mirror Weekly) newspaper.

“Using UAH 300 million – UAH 400 million provided by Ukreximbank, we will increase the statutory capital of the state leasing company, and municipal administration of four cities will get nearly 2,000 brand new vehicles,” the vice-premier said.

According to him, the vehicles will be produced by LAZ (Lviv Bus Plants).

“There is only one plant that can cope with the quality and volume of the order – Lviv Bus Plant,” Kolesnikov said.

Source: Kyiv Post (http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/62640/)

PL.2012, a company established to supervise preparations for EURO 2010 said it was satisfied with the state of infrastructure. ‘At present I would say that the airports in Warsaw and Wrocław will be definitely ready for the championship’ Tomasz Szymczak, airports preparations coordinator, told Puls Biznesu. Chopin airport in Warsaw is already considered to be ready for EURO 2010. Access roads are to be repaired and developed within a year. The situation Wrocław airport is also satisfactory. The passenger terminal and infrastructure are to be completed in Q1 2011 and the airport is to open in September.

Poznań lacks the approval of environmentalists necessary to launch construction. A high level of noise expected on the site, which is close to the city centre, is causing objections. PL.2012 has also worries about Gdansk airport. The work is on schedule, but its completion is planned for March 2012. ‘This may be too late as usually 2-3 extra months are required to test an airport’ Szymczak told Puls Biznesu.

Source: Polish Market (http://www.polishmarket.com.pl/document/:22766?p=/Economic+Monitor/)