Ukrainian President sets-up new Government committee for Euro 2012

April 3 - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (pictured) has set-up a new high-powered Government committee to oversee preparations for the 2012 European Championships, which he admits have fallen badly behind.

The Committee, which also includes Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko and Interior Minister Anatoliy Mohilev, has been established to try to reassure UEFA that Ukraine will be able to co-host the tournament with Poland.

UEFA President Michel Platini has publicly criticised Ukraine for its slow pace of preparations and warned that they may take the event away from them and instead award their share of matches to Germany.

Earlier this week Yanukovych admitted that preparations had “fallen into terrible decay” and promised that Ukraine would spend 30 billion hryvnia (£2.5 billion/$3.8 billion) on getting the project back on track.

A statement from Yanukovych said: ”The committee has been created in order to ensure…a speedy improvement of the situation with the preparation and hosting the final part of the 2012 European Football Championship.”

In December, UEFA body had only confirmed games would be played in the capital, Kiev.

Later, three other Ukrainian cities, Kharkov, Lviv and Donetsk, were confirmed by the UEFA as venues.

Yanukovych has announced plans to attract foreign investments to prepare the country for the tournament as the government is incapable of footing the bill itself due to the current economic situation in the country.

Poland will host games in Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw, and Gdansk.