A presidential false start: how Yuriy Golik sold Zelenskiy an unfit stadium for UAH 730 million

A presidential false start: how Yuriy Golik sold Zelenskiy an unfit stadium for UAH 730 million

While “Big Construction” was presented as a success story, the budgets for some projects increased several times over. One of the most striking examples is the reconstruction of the Metallurh Stadium in Krivoy Rog, where the cost grew from UAH 62 million to almost UAH 733 million. At the same time, the project continues to raise questions regarding its compliance with the standards that were originally announced.
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The process was overseen by the program’s then-ideologue Yuriy Golik, who is now abroad and, according to available information, is actively working to remove traces of his alleged schemes. We are publishing this investigation to remind readers what the “efficient” use of billions in public funds under presidential patronage actually looked like.

In 2019, the stadium was initially planned for a simple renovation costing UAH 62 million. However, in 2020, as part of the “Big Construction” program, authorities decided to carry out a full reconstruction, with the budget increased to UAH 732.98 million. Now, as part of the new works, the facade that had been renovated under the previous contract is already being demolished.

The stadium is being rebuilt for the Kryvbas football club, which was created on the basis of another local club with the support of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy.

Yuriy Koriavchenkov, a longtime partner of Zelenskiy from the Kvartal 95 studio and now a member of parliament from the “Servant of the People” party, became the driving force behind these ideas. The reconstruction project of the stadium itself is being coordinated by Kvartal 95 actor Artem Gagarin.

The Department of Capital Construction of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration classified the details of the reconstruction project of the Metallurg stadium in Krivoy Rog. The project coordinator of “Big Construction,” Yuriy Golik, and the person responsible for the works, Artem Gagarin, also did not disclose them.

At the presentation of the sports arena in August 2020, Volodymyr Zelenskiy was told that the modernization project would reduce the number of seats for fans from 30,000 to 17,000. The developers explained this by saying that the reconstruction project for “Metalurh” included the requirements for fourth-category stadiums.

This is the highest category of the Ukrainian Football Association, which allows a stadium to host matches of any level, including international competitions. This category requires all spectator seats to be covered by a roof. However, according to the project, not the entire stadium in Krivoyi Rog will have a roof, the publication reports, citing Mikhail Lemayev, deputy director of the Department of Capital Construction of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration.

Therefore, the stadium would be able to qualify only for the third category at most. For arenas of this class, the most significant matches that can be hosted are the Ukrainian Cup or Super Cup finals. This means that if “Kryvbas” qualifies for the Europa League, it will not be able to play its home matches at its own stadium.

“Zelenskiy wanted ‘Metalurh’ to be able to host the highest-level matches. But he was misled — the reconstruction project does not meet the required standards.”

After the publication in “Tribuna,” a new article about the stadium was released.

In 2020, the Ukrainian Football Association introduced an updated Stadium Infrastructure Regulations and Football Competition Safety Regulations. Article 5.27 states that the highest — fourth — category is assigned to stadiums where 100% of spectator seats are covered by a roof.

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However, the appendix to the Regulations, which lists the characteristics of the highest category, mentions only the mandatory coverage of VIP boxes and media areas.

In addition, the UAF Regulations state that the federation “may establish exceptions for a specific structural criterion for the relevant stadium category.”

Thus, different interpretations of the Regulations and their appendices make it possible to negotiate with the UAF regarding the assignment of the highest category to a stadium.

Furthermore, according to UAF requirements, international competitions can be hosted not only by fourth-category arenas but also by third-category stadiums (where 30% of spectator seats are covered). However, such an arena must also pass a separate inspection by international football authorities. UEFA also assigns stadiums four categories according to its own stadium infrastructure regulations.

However, it is impossible to verify whether the new “Metalurh” stadium in Krivoy Rog complies with UEFA standards, because the reconstruction project is not publicly available.