With apartment space at a premium in Ukraine, city-dwellers in high-rise blocks traditionally use their balconies to hang out their washing and store sledges, skis and other bric-a-brac. In summer, many apartment-dwellers relax on their balconies in sandals and dress robes.
Kiev now fears its plans for a “Switch On Ukraine” campaign to showcase the beauty of its four stadium cities during the European championships it is co-hosting in June 2012 will throw a spotlight on these informal habits and earn ridicule. “Here we are planning to spend colossal amounts on lighting up buildings. But imagine we then have Uncle Vasya out in his underpants on the balcony and there are bowls around the place, sledges and skis—and we will be illuminating all this too,” Kiev’s architect Sergey Tselovalnik said
Tselovalnik is now urging the government to stop anyone living within half-a-kilometre of a Euro-2012 game venue from making an unsightly spectacle of themselves on their balconies. Lawyers see a problem, however.
“Apartments are private property. I can’t imagine police going into apartments to force people to take in washing from the line or bring in old sledges,” a lawyer said.