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Ukraine targets F1 with high-spec circuit

Plans have been put in place to bring Formula One to Ukraine, after officials in Kiev announced they will build an international-level circuit near the city.

At a press conference the head of the state administration department, Anatoliy Prysiazhniuk, said the city would start building a 5.2 km circuit at a cost of $1 billion in 2011, with the intent of bringing F1 to the country.

"We will build an international track in the Polissia and Ivankiv districts in order to host international competitions," he said on Tuesday according to the Kyiv Post.

Prysiazhniuk did not name the investor behind the project, but said he was in talks with people who have experience in building circuits to F1 standards.

"I saw the project, and experts from Europe assessed it," he said. "The project was drafted by a person from Denmark who built the tracks in the [United Arab] Emirates, Singapore and other countries. The track will meet all modern requirements [including grandstands, access roads and hotels].

With construction work scheduled to start early in 2011, Prysiazhniuk said the circuit will be up and running by 2013. "I've set the condition - the project should be implemented in at most two years," he added.

100 hectares of land have been set aside for the project.

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