UEFA is concerned about prices in Ukrainian hotels

UEFA was concerned about the high prices for accommodation of guests of the Euro 2012 football championship in Ukrainian hotels. Yesterday the organization called on the country's authorities to influence hotel owners. Ukrainian officials note that they have repeatedly called on hoteliers to reduce the cost of their services, but there are no legal mechanisms to force them to do this.

The UEFA leadership is concerned about the high prices for accommodation in a number of Ukrainian hotels, the organization's operating director Martin Kalen said yesterday during the teleconference "Warsaw-Kyiv: 100 days before Euro 2012". “Some hoteliers set very high prices. I personally want to ask these people to approach this issue rationally,” Mr. Kalen said. UEFA believes that this situation is observed only in certain hotels, but in general there are enough places to accommodate fans in Ukraine. Deputy Prime Minister Boris Kolesnikov confirmed that such a problem really exists.

The Ukrainian authorities also paid attention to the high cost of hotel services. In mid-February, Mr. Kolesnikov noted that if domestic hotels do not reduce room prices by the start of the championship, it will be more profitable for fans to fly to matches than to live in Ukraine. “Now hotels have raised prices. Budget companies can fly from Europe for $200 to a game in Ukraine. Three matches for each team is $600. But living here is much more expensive,” said Boris Kolesnikov. “Because of greed, many hotel owners scare away fans with high prices - 200-300 euros per room in a three-star hotel per day,” says First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Prominvestbank Vyacheslav Yutkin (managed NRK hotels in Ukraine).

However, the government can only influence those hoteliers who have not signed contracts with the official tour operator of the football union TUI Travel, explains Oleg Zasadny, director of the Euro 2012 department of the Lviv City Council. “When signing the agreement with TUI, the UEFA management itself established the recommended room rates for three- and four-star hotels, based on the prices that were during Euro 2008,” says Mr. Zasadny. “This figure ranged from 100 to 250 euros per night.” In particular, Kyiv hotels Opera, Radisson Blue, Donetsk Donbass Palace and Kharkiv Palace signed agreements with TUI Travel. As of mid-November 2011, TUI had contracted almost 13 thousand hotel rooms in three, four and five star class properties in the cities hosting the championship.

However, according to Oleg Zasadny, the government has no legal ways to force other hoteliers to reduce prices. “We have repeatedly asked hotel owners to reduce the cost of their services, but there has been no response from them. In March, when statistics on room reservations by European fans are collected, we will hold a meeting with hotel operators and once again ask them to reduce prices. But We cannot oblige them to do this,” he sums up.

Partner video news

Veronica Gavrilyuk

Such numbers will not work