European Games to cost Belarus $30 - 40 million

Belarus will spend $30-40 million to host the 2019 European Games, Sports and Tourism Minister Aliaksandr Shamko said on a Belarusian TV show (ONT Channel) on October 27 .

According to the minister, European Olympic Committees (EOC) will cover costs associated with transfers and air fares. TV broadcasting costs will be sorted out by a channel to be set up by the International Olympic Committee. EOC will cover part of those costs. International experts evaluate that since Belarus has already a necessary infrastructure in place, the budget of the Games will be reasonable.

The first European Games in Baku last year cost Azerbaijan over $5 billion, because the country had to build all the required infrastructure from scratch.

Shamko stressed that Belarus and EOC want to bring top athletes to Belarus in order to strengthen the image of European Games, reports BelaPAN.