Political games: why Zelensky announced plans to host the Olympics in Ukraine

The President of Ukraine announced Kiev's intention to apply to host the Olympic Games, calling such plans an "ambitious" goal for the republic.

“We need to understand what steps need to be taken for this - and done very quickly.

If it costs a lot, you can talk about unification and hold (the Olympic Games. 

with another country, "Zelensky said during a working trip to Kiev-controlled areas of the Donetsk region.

According to him, the holding of the Olympics will have a symbolic meaning, and in addition, will contribute to attracting foreign tourists to the country.

• Olympic torch handover ceremony

• Reuters

• © Aris Messinis

“We need a sports Oscar, we need a goal,” the press service of the Ukrainian president quoted Zelensky as saying.

The Ukrainian leadership has announced its Olympic ambitions before.

So, in mid-September, the Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Vadim Gutsait told reporters that the President of the country "set a task - to bring the Olympics to Ukraine."

“But this requires a material and technical base.

Now we are looking at whether it is possible or not.

If possible, what to build.

A week ago, the President told me to give the terms of reference for the Olympic Games.

Now we are preparing it, ”said the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Sports.

"We must be ambitious"

We will remind, in July it became known that the office of the President of Ukraine is working on the issue of the arrival of the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the country.

According to the head of the Ukrainian leader's office, Andriy Yermak, such a visit would show how Ukraine is preparing to apply for the Olympics.

It was about the participation of the republic in the competition for the games of 2028 or 2030.

According to Vadim Gutsait, this would be a great impetus for the development of sports in the country, both mass and professional.

At the same time, at that time, the Games of 2028 were already given to Los Angeles.

Zelensky raised the topic of Ukraine's possible participation in the competition back in July 2019.

Then he instructed the government to develop a strategic development plan, implying the possibility of organizing the Olympic Games in the country.

“We need a certain plan.

For example, we are ready to build everything in three or four years, and then we can be in line and host the Olympics.

We must be ambitious, ”the president said at the time.

• Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics

• Reuters

• © Kai Pfaffenbach

Zelensky added that "we need to give the task" to allocate funds annually for the construction of facilities necessary for Ukraine, which can be used for the Olympics in the future.

“We must at least try to achieve this,” he stressed.

As the President of Belarus Alexander Lukasheko stated in October 2019, the Ukrainian authorities offered Minsk to develop a joint application for participation in the Olympic Games.

“I think our countries together could compete for the right to host high-level international sports competitions.

I am talking about the proposal of the President of Ukraine, who proposes to jointly think about whether we should not aim at the Olympic Games.

It is within the power of two states, ”Lukashenka noted then, speaking at a meeting of the II Forum of the Regions of Belarus and Ukraine in Zhitomir.

However, now Kiev is considering as a possible sports partner not Belarus, but Poland.

Speaking on October 12 at a briefing in Kiev with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the only possible dispute between Poland and Ukraine could be a dispute over which Ukrainian and Polish cities to host the joint Winter Olympic Games or the World Cup.

Let us remind you that in 2012 Ukraine and Poland jointly hosted the European Football Championship.

However, experts doubt that Kiev and Warsaw will actually be able to host the Olympics.

As the head of the Ukrainian analytical center, Alexander Okhrimenko, explained in a commentary to RT, Kiev is now not in a position to host competitions of this magnitude.

“Ukraine and Poland will not pull out such a task even by joint efforts.

And the International Olympic Committee can regard Kiev's application as a joke, because everyone understands what economic situation Ukraine is in, ”Okhrimenko explained.

• National Bank of Ukraine

• Reuters

• © Valentyn Ogirenko

A similar point of view is shared by Mikhail Pogrebinsky, director of the Kiev Center for Political Studies and Conflictology.

"Yes, Kiev and Warsaw were able to host a football championship, but, firstly, this event is not of the same scale as the Olympics, and Ukraine was in a much better position then," he said in an interview with RT.

PR motivation

It is worth noting that Ukraine announced its Olympic ambitions back in 2013.

According to the Kyiv authorities' plan, the 2022 Olympic Games were to be held in Lviv.

The idea to host a large-scale sports event in the republic belonged to Viktor Yanukovych, who was then president.

According to his plan, after submitting the application, Ukraine would have time to build the necessary infrastructure in the Carpathians.

In the fall of 2013, the head of the National Olympic Committee Serhiy Bubka, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy, and then Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Vilkul signed an agreement of intent.

In addition, the priority project "Olympic Hope - 2022" was created.

In addition to Lviv, the competitions were planned to be held in Truskavets, Stryi, Slavskoy, Tisovets, Trostyan, as well as in the Transcarpathian region.

The total spending on preparation for the Games was then estimated at $ 2.7-3 billion.

However, the "Euromaidan" and the coup put an end to these intentions: against the background of the conflict and economic crisis, Kiev had to curtail plans related to the Olympics.

Preparation and organization of competitions of this scale is an expensive project, and modern Ukraine itself is in dire need of external financial support, experts say.

So, at the end of the second quarter of 2020, the country's gross external debt increased by $ 2.5 billion and reached 78.8% of GDP.

Such data were provided by the National Bank of Ukraine.

• Lviv

• Reuters

• © Gleb Garanich

At the same time, the costs of preparing for the XXIII Winter Olympic XII Paralympic Games in South Korea took over $ 12.6 billion. The Sochi Olympics cost the organizers $ 51 billion, taking into account the fact that all sports and infrastructure facilities were built from scratch.

$ 16.3 billion was spent on the London 2012 Olympics, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil required an investment of $ 9.75 billion. At the same time, experts question the return on investment of such sports events.

“The state of the Ukrainian economy does not even allow us to think about hosting the Olympics in the republic.

Either Vladimir Zelensky does not understand the complexity of organizing the event, or he decided to promote himself.

This is the most senseless idea the president has voiced, since the hosting of the Olympic Games usually brings a loss to the host country.

Instead of real work, Zelensky is now engaged in PR, ”says Okhrimenko.

Mikhail Pogrebinsky expressed a similar opinion.

“Demonstrating ambition is Zelenskiy's characteristic approach.

But this should not be taken seriously.

There are no prerequisites for the fact that Ukraine will be able to host the Olympic Games in the next decade.

Now the republic is a poor country with the lowest per capita income in Europe.

Ukraine itself borrows funds, and billions of dollars are needed to organize sports competitions.

So there is nothing but PR behind Zelensky’s words, ”Pogrebinsky summed up.