#QUESTIONS from fans. Volodymyr Baienko. Part 1

The general director of Kryvyi Rih FC "Kryvbas" Volodymyr Baienko answered the questions of the fans. We are back with a new informative issue of the #QUESTIONS column. To your attention, the first part of the text material.

- Should we expect more transfers before the second part of the season?

- Yes, we are working on it, there are still several players with whom we are negotiating, and in the near future expect news on our official resources.

- Why does the club not publish the amount of transfers? Is this the position of the president? Do you think that Ukrainian society is not yet ready for open budgets?

- First, this is an agreement between the two clubs. If the other side asks not to disclose the amount of transfers, we have no right to do so. Perhaps in the future there will be some objective platform that will inform fans about the amounts of transfers. But at this stage, it is not the decision of one football club, Kryvbas, for example, to announce or not announce the amounts.

There are other clubs that ask us not to disclose the transfer amount. I know that in England there is such a platform that names the official salaries of players. And it would be interesting if something like this worked in Ukraine, because our club does everything officially. We have official salaries, and we are one of the largest taxpayers in our city.

- What is your position regarding Dibango? Will the club extend his contract?

- The situation regarding Dibango is very simple. We offered Ivan a contract on better terms. At the moment, he refuses to extend the agreement. There are some reasons for this. The club made an official offer, Ivan considered it for a long time, there were certain nuances, negotiations. At this stage, we had several offers for his transfer: some suited us, some did not suit Ivan. And currently the situation is such that a contract extension is on the table, but the player does not want to extend it.

- Everyone knows that the Kryvbas project depends on Kostiantyn Karamanits. Does the club have a plan "B" in case the owner gets tired of football or changes priorities?

- Plan "B" or plan "C", or some other plans: I think it would be more correct to say that our goal is to build a club that will work independently of a single investor. This is such a big goal. What needs to be done for this? There is understanding, but, I repeat once again, there are factors that currently influence the fact that we are still far from this. I will give an example of a FC in Poland. Their income from broadcasts is almost 100% of the club's budget. And many clubs live precisely at the expense of TV broadcasts. In Ukraine, at the moment we do not receive anything, or we receive very little. This is the direction that needs to be developed.

Another direction is working with fans, with those who will be at our stadium; those who will follow; those who will cheer for the football club "Kryvbas", criticize when something is wrong, but support. If, for example, we take England, if we compare it with the best, then there the income from the sale of season tickets, paraphernalia and other things is also a very large percentage of the annual budget of the football club. Therefore, not only the football club "Kryvbas" needs to develop this, it needs to be developed in our country in general. Our country currently lacks football fields. Our children have nowhere to play. That's the problem.

Every young football player who has gone through our Academy, perhaps he will not become a professional performer. But if he played football in childhood, then you will cheer for this team later. We want as many young players as possible to study at the FA "Kryvbas", so that as many parents as possible are involved in working with the Academy. Then we will have even more fans and expand our geography to other cities, other regions. And that's how to make up the income of a football club.

- How do you feel about public criticism directed at you, which can often be read on the club's social networks under posts?

- Positive. Because if you're not criticized, then you probably don't do anything. Everyone has their own opinion, everyone expresses it differently. And sometimes even this criticism is not directed at the address, but it's nice when the fans don't care what's happening in the club. We are also ordinary people, like everyone else, we also sometimes make mistakes, it's normal. Every person who says something has the full right to do so, I understand their emotions, it's normal. If, you know, there is such a saying: the one who does nothing is not mistaken.

Therefore, if you don't do anything, then no one is interested in you, then they don't comment on you, then they don't get angry at you, and if you do some actions, you are responsible for it, then, of course, someone likes it, someone doesn't like it. Similarly, in football - there is a winner, there is a loser. I will repeat once again: I would like there to always be criticism, but it should be constructive. If something does not work out, we pay attention, we try to react to it, we try to improve. Everyone works for one thing - a positive result, to fight for the championship, to fight for the highest places, so that each football player develops, so that only football players from our Academy play in the team, who are really at the level of the football club "Kryvbas", who will only improve the football club "Kryvbas". We are working on this, but certain moments, certain nuances also take time.

- What are the prospects for the construction of the Metalurh stadium, which began before the war and is currently suspended?

- We are not responsible for this construction, for the reconstruction, so we have no information. I know that it is currently suspended. I can only say for those infrastructure facilities that are the property of the Kryvbas football club.

- Should we expect newcomers this offseason with a Ukrainian passport?

- Regarding football players with a Ukrainian passport, there is one clear answer. Many questions from our fans. Now I would like to say: if we take some Ukrainian football player not from our Academy, then we are closing the door for our players to make their debut and play in the team. It was decided that in the future we will only count on players who will move at least from Kryvbas U-19 to the first team. This is our perspective, we see our future in this. I understand that it is difficult for fans to understand why this is so. But we need to be patient, we need to trust. And we need to move forward with these players. In the future, we will achieve maximum results in the Ukrainian championship.

- Do you plan to create a Kryvbas media team in the future?

- That would probably be a cool idea. We planned it at some point. Now there are other plans that we would like to implement.

- Does Kryvbas have a development plan? What is the current financial situation of the club?

- It is very difficult to speak separately about the club, as for the financial side, because our country is currently suffering from constant shelling, it is very difficult for any business, it is very difficult for everyone. This is the fourth year of a full-scale war. The fact that the club is functioning, the fact that the club is always fighting for the highest places, is an indicator that we are moving in the right direction. There are many examples when companies, clubs in Ukraine simply disappeared. We always try to adapt to a particular situation or individual circumstances that arise.

I am sure that together with our fans, with our real fans, supporters, we will only become better, because we have no other choice. Because we are a club located in a frontline region, we are the only professional football club representing the Dnipropetrovsk region in the UPL; a club that is trying to expand the infrastructure, that is trying to attract as many children as possible. Therefore, we have big strategic plans. The situation in the country is not easy, but we are trying to adhere to high standards and maximum demands on ourselves - that is why we are moving forward.

- Are there players in the team who cannot be bought? Is Kryvbas ready to sell anyone if the price is fair?

- A difficult question. It seems to me that there is always a price that either suits or does not suit the club president in order for him to make a decision regarding a particular football player. At the moment, we have been selling players who came to us from other clubs. We will probably have more headaches in the future if we receive an offer to sell a player who spent some time in the Kryvbas Academy, showed good play for the first team, was called up to the Ukrainian national team.

If there is a good offer, then this will probably be the most difficult choice for the president. But I believe that we have proven ourselves as a club that works well on the transfer market, that finds players, develops them and sells them more expensively. Therefore, this also has the right to life, because for many clubs this is a normal process of forming the income part.

- What skills do you need to have to get a scout position at Kryvbas?

- First of all, you probably need to play football a little bit in order to understand how football works. Understand some subtle nuances in order to pay more attention to them. And, probably, the most important thing is the desire to work at the Kryvbas football club.

- Why doesn't Kryvbas pay attention to football players from the Balkans? Albanians, Kosovars could also strengthen our team.

- Our scouting department always pays attention to all regions. We have been in very close negotiations with many football players. I will open the curtain a little: a player who is currently playing in another Ukrainian club could end up with us, but there are always some nuances. There is a scouting department that selects football players. Then - negotiations regarding his possibility of coming to Ukraine. Then negotiations regarding his financial conditions. Then he needs to be suitable and liked by the coaching staff.

And only then the president, analyzing all the information from these departments, makes a decision - is he suitable or not suitable, and understands whether he is an asset to the club or not. And then our fans see on our official networks whether the transfer took place or not. We have a scout who is responsible only for these regions: Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia. Players from the Balkans played for Kryvbas: Kapić - Bosnia, now we have two players from Croatia. If there is a football player who will suit the head coach's playing style, will suit the financial conditions and will have the desire to play for Kryvbas, I think that the fans will see such a performer.

- Does the club plan to extend the contract with Maksym Zaderaka?

- Yes, the club is currently in negotiations with him. They are going very well.

- During your playing career, which match for Vorskla do you remember the most?

- Well, of course, the Ukrainian Cup final. But it's hard to call it a match, because I only played one and a half minutes. But emotionally, it was probably the most emotional match. And the one I remember was the game against Karpaty on the road, when I scored a goal.

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