Ukraine needs at least $3.7 billion this year to prepare the country for Euro 2012, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said on Thursday
The optimal amount of financing from the federal budget needed to prepare for the UEFA tournament is estimated at $5 billion in 2010, Yanukovych said.
"We have accepted this challenge, and I believe we will prepare properly. This year we will move on this issue so our country won't be ashamed in 2012," the president said.
Yanukovych condemned the former government's plans to hold the tournament without attracting foreign investment. "Nowhere in the world is an event of this magnitude planned without attracting investment," Yanukovych said in mid-March.
Yanukovych has already announced plans to attract foreign investments to prepare the country for the championship. The Ukrainian government is incapable of footing the bill itself without foreign investment due to the current economic situation in the country.
Ukraine's readiness for the 2012 tournament, which it is to share with Poland, has been a constant source of concern for UEFA.
KIEV, April 1 (RIA Novosti)
