Ukrainians can't resist of labelling top quality goods and services with the catch-all tag "Euro standard". Nowhere is the usage of this terminology more ubiquitous than in the building trade, where anything approaching modern international quality has long been labeled "euro renovated," or in local parlance, euro remont. This gulf between the old Soviet standards and perceived Euro standards is admittedly huge, but Ukraine's successful bid to host the Euro 2012 football championships could well prove decisive in bridging the gap. In short, the whole country is about to get some euro remont, and we can expect work to begin pretty soon.
Not only is the world's second most popular sporting bonanza coming to town, but crucially Ukrainians now have a concrete date to work towards, a psychological motivator that could do wonders for the country's attempts to forge ahead with building the kind of infrastructure required before EU integration can be seriously considered.
This has been almost the only way things get done in Ukraine for decades. In recent times the monumental Rodina Mat war memorial was finished at record speed in time for Victory Day in 1981. Today's Maidan and the accompanying underground shopping complex were rushed through to make the deadline for the tenth anniversary Independence Day celebrations in 2001 and anyone who was here in 2005 will testify to the ferocity of the facelift downtown Kyiv received as the capital braced itself for the Eurovision Song Contest finals. Then there was the super quick construction of the new Kyiv railway terminal building in 2001 and the recent rejuvenation of central Lviv, both of which were achieved against all odds to meet immovable holiday-related deadlines.
All these events have helped in their own little way to improve and modernise Ukraine but they will be literally dwarfed by Euro 2012, which could bring something in the region of a million tourists to the country and have a massive impact on the westernisation of Ukraine.
The task confronting the Euro 2012 team is certainly not to be underestimated, with a total overhaul of the rail and road networks being just one of the mammoth undertakings that the country must accept. However, past experience suggests that while there will be much moaning and complaining about all that money spent on a football tournament for foreigners, the end result could well be the biggest lift the country has received since the rebuilding programme following the Second World War.
Much of the credit for this notable victory should go to the people who actually put the bid together, but more than anything else it is the product of the vastly improved profile the country now enjoys thanks to the Orange Revolution. Talk of hosting major sporting events would have been laughable just a few years ago, but it takes something as big as this to make people realise how far the country has moved on.
Having said that, when it comes to kick-starting the modernisation process in Ukraine European football's governing body UEFA probably still doesn't realise how much of a favour they have done the country. After all, while the vague references of possible future discussions on EU membership that the country has endured for the past two years haven't provoked much in the way of far-reaching reforms, working towards a big deadline is exactly the kind of thing that Ukrainians excel at. It could provide the very kick-start the country needs.
Beyond the reconstruction works there are plenty of social issues that will also need serious attention, not least the growing problem of racism and the continuing dominance of Soviet-era service standards, but hopefully Euro 2012 will present the country with an opportunity to confront these thorny issues too.
A quick glance at the calendar shows that a mere 1871 days remain before the tournament is due to kick off. So without further ado, let the greatest euro remont in Ukrainian history begin!
