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Kiev hopes to earn 20 mln euros on Eurovision-2017 song contest

Kiev’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko has promised to organize the Eurovision-2017 song contest in Kiev at a very high level
Independence Square in Kiev ITAR-TASS/Sergei Fadeichev
Independence Square in Kiev
© ITAR-TASS/Sergei Fadeichev

KIEV, September 10 /TASS/. The Kiev city administration has calculated that Kiev’s budget may earn almost 20 million euros from the Eurovision-2017 song contest, Anton Taranenko, the head of the administration’s department of tourism, said on Friday.

"We plan to receive from 20,000 to 30,000 tourists, and we know that one tourist spends at least 100 euros per day. Theoretically, the city can earn 20 million euros in a period from May 5 to 15. This is a sum that Kiev budget may earn from tourists who use city services," Taranenko told Public TV in a live interview.

Kiev plans to allocate 200 million hryvnias (about $7.5 million according to the current exchange rate) for Eurovision-2017.

"The Kiev City Council has allocated 200 million hryvnias (about $7.5 million dollars according to the current rate) for the organization of the contest show. More than 2 billion hryvnias will additionally be spent  to create the necessary infrastructure," Taranenko said.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Culture Minister Yevgeny Nishchuk said that 200 million hryvnias would be spent on the show and another billion hryvnias would be spent on designing the arena and the landscape and creating the necessary infrastructure.

Earlier on Friday, it was announced that the Eurovision-2017 international song contest would take place in Kiev. Ukraine received the right to host Eurovision-2017 after Ukrainian singer Jamala had won the last Eurovision contest in Sweden with her song "1944".

Kiev’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko, in turn, has promised to organize the Eurovision-2017 song contest in Kiev at a very high level.

"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," Klitschko, the former boxer, wrote on his page in Facebook.

Klitschko 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.