"The country's government will find ways to make the costs of staying in the country during the Euro-2012 more acceptable for our guests," Deputy Prime Minister Borys Kolesnikov said at a news conference.

"Poverty causes greed," he added. "We forgave our hotels their debts 10 years ago to stimulate their development. We counted on their loyalty but they lifted the prices."

"However, our government has enough power to reduce their appetite," Kolesnikov promised.

Earlier this year Ukraine's media expressed deep concern over hotel capacity in some of the Euro-2012 host cities and the high cost of staying in Kiev for foreign visitors.

Estimates put the cost of rooms in Kiev at double that of staying in the Polish capital, Warsaw.

An overnight stay in Kiev during the tournament is expected to reach a staggering $332 (247 euros), compared with $149 in Warsaw.

Tent pitches in the Kiev suburbs will cost visiting fans about 40 euros ($54), the price of a daily stay in a hostel in Warsaw.

Kolesnikov insisted that Ukraine has enough space in inexpensive hotels in all of the host cities, although he admitted there is a lack of capacity in Donetsk.

Fans there will have the option of staying on local university campuses, he added.

Kolesnikov also said that Ukraine is set to open the country's skies for all of the world's airlines.

This initiative will allow fans who consider staying in Ukraine to be too expensive to come to Ukraine to watch the match and return home right after the showdown.

(source)