TALLINN - Finance Ministry officials said that the state would not extend support to Rocca al Mare, a struggling arena in the capital, despite the owner's hopes and a precedent for helping another stadium.
Kalle Kukk, vice chancellor of the ministry, said that the state had not earmarked funds to prop up the ailing multipurpose facility. He said the budget could not afford to subsidize large sports projects such as Rocca al Mare.
"With regard to the Rocca al Mare arena and given the current plans, we can see no real way for the arena to be self-supporting," said Kukk. "We do not consider cooperation on public and private-sector projects that financially are a failure and whose sustainability is unclear."
Asked about the state's financial support of the Lillekula field, Kukk stressed that the two arenas were different.
"The Lillekula soccer field is a clear investment 's thoroughly analyzed 's where the state has hedged its risks to the utmost. The Flora soccer club guarantees the field earnings that cover expenses related to upkeep of the facility. Flora has so far proved it can without state support and without making a loss cover all its expenses, including the outlays on the field," Kukk explained.
The Eesti Paevaleht daily wrote that Aivar Riisalu, owner of Rocca al Mare, and Aivar Sirelpuu, arena manager, had turned to the government requesting support similar to what Lillekula had received.
But Kukk, who sits on Rocca al Mare's board as a state representative, also explained that there were other difference between the two stadiums. "The point is that in the case of the Lillekula stadium, the state invested money by purchasing part of the stock 's it was one-capital-for-another deal," he said, adding that FC Flora President Aivar Pohlak has proven he can come up with the revenues to cover expenses.
"The situation with the Rocca al Mare sports arena is quite the opposite," he went on to explain. "That is why the state does not consider it reasonable to put extra money into it. The state has purchased a share of the arena venture and thus had supported it. Riisalu was asking the state to cover running costs, which seems unreasonable."
Kukk explained that the indirect support Riisalu had wanted, such as tax relief, would mean less money for the state treasury, which essentially boiled down to footing the arena's operating costs.
He said the Rocca arena had not brought any money to the state so far.
"If someone is interested in buying the state's share, we will think about it. But you know what the financial situation of the arena is now," he said.
