Shakhtar Donetsk football club has opened the Donbass Arena football stadium in Donetsk.
The ceremonial opening of the stadium took place in the evening on August 29, Kyiv Post reported.
The opening ceremony was attended by President Victor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, the Party of the Regions' leader Victor Yanukovych, and other politicians.
Yuschhenko and Lytvyn delivered addresses at the opening ceremony, but Tymoshenko did not.
About 3,000 honorary guests also attended the opening ceremony, including politicians, international football functionaries, athletes, and entertainers.
About 1,500 volunteers participated in the opening ceremony.
The presentation of the stadium was prepared by K-Events, the Italian company that organized the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympic Games in Turin (Italy) in 2006.
K-Events' President Marco Balich did not disclose the cost of the stadium's opening ceremony, but he did say that it cost several million euros.
The Donbass Arena football stadium has a capacity of 50,000 and fully meets the UEFA's requirements for elite football stadiums and can host the finals of European club football tournaments.
The stadium has an oval shape and a glass facade. Its roof is inclined in the north-south direction to correspond to the slope of the landscape, thus increasing natural lighting and ventilation of the football pitch.
A park with a pond is being build around the stadium.
Three restaurants, four bars, a lounge bar, scores of fast-food restaurants, a fitness center, a proprietary shop, a museum, and a Shakhtar Donetsk fan cafe will be located inside the stadium.
Construction of the stadium began in July 2006. The general contractor for its construction was the ENKA company (Turkey).
Construction of the stadium cost USD 400 million.
The owner of the stadium is the Shakhtar Stadium limited liability company.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Donbass Arena football stadium intends to bid to host the final match of the Champions League or the Europa League in 2012.
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