The final exam

Less than a month is left until the opening ceremony of the Olimpiisky National Sport Complex (NSC). On September 8, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Borys Kolesnikov inspected the stadium that is now in the final stage of reconstruction for Europe’s most important soccer event of the coming year and will host the championship’s opening match.

“Of course, there is still a lot of work to do, but it is mostly decorative and secondary one. We are yet to install seats, complete assembling the roof, and outfit the internal space, the latter task including mostly installation of the equipment and training of the personnel,” he said. “Thus, we will hold the grand opening ceremony for the largest stadium in our country on October 8.” According to Kolesnikov, 1,500 to 4,000 builders work around the clock (with exact numbers depending on exact time of day or night) to have the Kyiv stadium ready in time. Installation of seats is completed in the lower tier of the stands but for the VIP sector, while there are still 15 sectors with uninstalled seats in the upper tier. Up to 2,000 seats were installed at the Olimpiisky every day, so this work would be completed within days, the deputy prime minister said.

Installation of equipment and interior decoration of the 42 fast food stalls is closing to completion in the galleries of the lower and upper tiers of the stands. Kolesnikov told the press there were plans to establish at least 20 stationary medical facilities for fans at the stadium.

Roofing of the Olimpiisky is almost complete, too, with 67 sectors of the membrane covering having been installed, out of planned 80 sectors. Workers have not installed yet 502 transparent domes throughout the roof’s surface. These domes will provide natural lighting for the stadium. Artificial lighting equipment of the giant bowl of the stadium consists of remotely controlled spotlights that can operate in seven different modes supporting television broadcast of any complexity. Sound system includes 88 full range and 80 low-frequency acoustic systems that have been installed under the stadium’s roof, as well as 126 loudspeakers under the stands.

Grass cover will be ready in a week. The soccer field with total area of 8,395 square meters was grown specifically for the Kyiv stadium in Slovakia using American, Danish and Dutch varieties of grasses. The growing process took two years.

“The NSC will have absolutely everything needed for hosting competition at any level, including track-and-field,” Kolesnikov said. He added that the main sport arena of the nation was already 95 percent ready for the opening day. The deputy prime minister stated that the stadium’s operating costs after the championship ended would amount to 12-15 million dollars per year. The minister told The Day that the stadium would cover these costs mostly out of its own operating income, with 80 percent covered in this way in the first year, but 90 percent in the second year and 95 percent in the third year.

At the end of his press conference, Kolesnikov promised to hold the magnificent opening ceremony for the Olimpiisky in a month, with 2,100 professional artists and volunteers taking part. The minister added that 58,000 people would witness it with their own eyes.