Organizers of the Eurovision song contest consider Moscow as a possible host city for the competition due in 2017 because the Ukrainian authorities are facing problems with organization of the event, Germany’s Bild wrote referring to sources at the organizing committee.
“The newspaper has learned from source at the organizing committee about discussions Moscow could host the competition,” Bild wrote on Sunday. Among quoted reasons are financing problems the Ukrainian side is facing. The article reads the decision could be especially unpleasant for Ukraine, as that country received the right to host the event as Ukraine’s singer Jamala won the 2016 Eurovision song contest held in Stockholm in May with the song called “1944”, which many considered anti-Russian.
Head of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign relations committee Anna Gopko told the newspaper: “There is a clear threat, the even may take place in a different country. It would be a catastrophe for us.”
In late November, acting head of the Ukrainian National television company Alexander Kharebin said the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) had threatened Kiev it might be deprived of the right to host Eurovision 2017. Among the quoted reasons, the official named bureaucracy, inadequate legislation and dismissive attitude of some officials to the contest.
Earlier, the contest’s representative told TASS the EBU is aware about overdue issues in preparations for the Eurovision 2017 competition in Ukraine; the Union has actions plans for emergency situations if problems remain unsolved.
The European Broadcasting Union will make a final decision, whether Ukraine will host the competition, at its general assembly due on December 8.
Ukraine’s Kiev, Odessa, Dnepr, Lvov, Kharkov and Kherson made bids to host the contest, but 19 out of 22 members of the organizing committee voted for Kiev.
In early September, Kiev’s Mayor Vitaly Klichko, in turn, has promised to organize the Eurovision-2017 song contest in Kiev at a very high level. Kiev planned to allocate 200 million hryvnias (about 7.5 million dollars at the then exchange rate) for Eurovision-2017. “I am sure that Kiev will hold the song contest at a decent and high level. Objectively, the (Ukrainian) capital is the most prepared and suitable venue for such a high-profile event. Apart from Eurovision, which Kiev hosted in 2005, the Ukrainian capital was also the venue of the UEFA Cup final,” Klichko, the former boxer, wrote on his page in Facebook. Klichko noted that he respected other Ukrainian candidate cities, which wanted to host the contest and invited their representatives to take part in the preparations.
“I am calling on everybody to participate in the organization of this music show. We will be glad to see all of you and consider your ideas and help in order to turn Eurovision into a “big event’,” the mayor stressed.
Source: TASS
