The press agency Anatolia spread the message that Ukraine will not host the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. Our colleagues of oikotimes.com wrote that. Though, it's a strange story…
According to the story, the EBU asked the mayor of Kiev to double the city budget in order to host 36 or more countries next year, something that the mayor of Kiev refused. Serbia & Montenegro although accepted their role as host broadcaster for 2005, but later rejected due to heavy budget plans.
Daphne Bokota, head of Eurovision issues at the Greek broadcaster ERT said in a live interview on STAR channel that these rumours are not true. She suggested that the story might have been made up by the Ukraine broadcaster itself to force the governement to enlarge the budget. Doubtful, because the budget for next year's contest wasn't a big issue. The major challenge is a venue to host the show, as the sports arena in Kiev needs a major renovation and building a new facility might be a bit too ambitious as there is a strict time limit.
So far, the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 seems to take place in Kiev, Ukraine. Esctoday.com asked the EBU and the Ukraine broadcaster for a reaction on the information. We are currently awaiting their reply.
