Security UA: Mr. Lukyanov, the first and most important question that concerns us is.: Did the factor of Euro 2012 have a positive influence on the development of the Ukrainian security industry?

Alexander Lukyanov: Of course, it was very positive. It was for the first time in the Ukrainian market, that we and many other companies were faced with the need to design and implement projects not in the standard Ukrainian mode. but in a completely European meaning of this word, and this applied to all systems.

For the first time, the latest, exclusively digital solutions of foreign brands were implemented, it was, in a good sense, pushed and tested to get good references, and we managed to integrate all of these solutions. Also for the first time, due to the fact that the European Football Federation strictly monitors the fineness of the “UEFA Stadium” label. The efforts of Western designers with extensive experience were concentrated on the Objects, and several groups of Western consultants were hired by the government to minimize the possible infrastructure errors which included security.

In Lviv, for example (the Lviv stadium caused particular concern among the organizers of the Tournament.) at the final stage in preparation for the signing of the Facility readiness protocol, it was participated more than 40 technical experts, hired by UEFA from Germany, Belgium, Holland, and Poland.  They actually performed the function of technical supervision, such as checking and controlling the progress of work. compliance with technical characteristics and parameters; conducting an audit of design solutions and required confirmation of all modes, in addition, we tested all systems every day before the matches for the last month and a half.

S.UA: So what is it – the UEFA standards that everyone referred to? How do they correspond with the European standards and fit into Ukrainian standards?

Alexander Lukyanov: This is the requirements De facto, and it is recommendations demure, it’s so-called “green book”. Moreover, they are very dynamic. These recommendations are reprinted 2 (two) times per year. and in each subsequent revision new provisions are added, and old ones are tightened. But at the same time, “setting a high bar” is not only reasoned in detail, up to specific decisions but also the “shirt” is shown from the inside. In addition, there is the opportunity to “touch with pens” any system at any object. – whether in Germany, Spain, Holland, or Romania. After all, each stadium has its own characteristics, namely.: specialization, area, geometry, and sound. At the NSC «Olympiysky», for example, the requirements of the UEFA were supplemented by the requirements of the International Athletics Federation. This included additional requirements for passive broadcasting networks, light, and sound, a banner field, etc. The toughening of UEFA’s requirements concerned the fire safety systems, access control systems, including the turnstile part, and video surveillance, ventilation, and air conditioning. and a number of other systems. UEFA has a separate service, led by Mark Timmer, and it does not give anyone a descent.

In Lviv, under UEFA pressure, it was implemented a system for the early detection of defects in building roof structures, bearing metal and reinforced concrete structures.

You know, this system monitors other parameters such as strength, vibration, etc. Thus, UEFA experts in a very strictly form demanded that this expensive system be implemented in the Lviv stadium, although, by the way, this system, for financial reasons, has not yet been implemented at the NSC.

S.UA: And how did Ukrainian norms fit into it, in particular, fire safety regulations?

Alexander Lukyanov: In many fields, due to the fact that in Ukraine about 7-8 years ago EN standards were introduced, we looked worthy. There are, of course, national amendments, but here we, together with Western consultants, decided as follows: if Ukrainian standards are tougher, we work according to Ukrainian; if tougher European – then European.

As an example, in Kyiv, at the suggestion of German designers, fire protection was strengthened on the stands by implementing a water-air fire extinguishing system. The technogenic safety inspection agreed on the present supplement., although there is nothing in the norms and regulations on this subject. Later this solution was applied in Lviv. On the whole, the Inspection didn’t “put a spoke in wheels”, but, on the contrary, helped with everything they could.

 

S.UA: Concerning the fire doors and gates: in accordance with our information, at the time of transfer of the NSC Olimpiysky to UEFA, the installation of fire barriers was not officially completed. What can you say about this?

Alexander Lukyanov: We did not deal with doors and gates, as well as fire protection. Doors were installed, but I don’t know how; it was the responsibility of the General Contractor.

S.UA: I can’t help asking a question about the fire during the opening of the NSC and the jam near the turnstiles in the first two matches?

Alexander Lukyanov: The fire arose due to someone’s stupidity and by coincidence. In the morning on the opening day, it was raining, and on the compression ring – in the same place where the fireworks were installed – the representatives of one German company mounted expensive acoustic and optical equipment. The Germans, in order to protect their equipment,. covered it with protective film with the hope to remove this film before the opening of the stadium. But at 3 pm, our law enforcement agencies, waiting for the first persons, carried out special measures by blocking the lifting mechanisms, and therefore no one was able to go upstairs. We were ready and provided with the fire extinguishers, and representatives of these structures used them to put out the fire. But there wasn’t much danger, there was a long distance to the membrane construction, and the membrane was fireproof.

According to the turnstiles – initially, there was a mistake by German designers, it did not provide the separation barriers for the flow of people. Plus, the stewards were not properly ready and trained, instead of helping the fans to read the code while passing the turnstile, they quickly passed behind the fence; although we can understand them, the stewards were afraid for their lives. By the way, a few days later there was a match in Lviv, and there these problems have already been resolved. In addition, of course, more police were involved around the perimeter of the stadium.

UEFA representatives silently and impartially documented all such events; maybe someday this video will arise somewhere. So, with a jam near the turnstiles, it was noticed that large groups of fans formed in an organized manner, and 5 minutes before the start of the match, they started an “assault”, possibly to get into the stadium without tickets. Perhaps they had other motives. One way or another, but during EURO matches there were no problems with turnstiles.

S.UA: Well, let’s consider that we’ve satisfied the curiosity of the “yellow press”. Please tell us about the firms that you subcontracted. How did you pick them up, how did they cope?

A.L.: We had about 15 companies on a subcontract basis, and 5 of them were directly related to security systems. The choice was simple:  a) those who know how to work; b) those who want to work. There were those who wanted but did not know how, and on the contrary, those who could but didn’t want. Everyone understood that there could be interruptions in financing. As a matter of fact, this happened because large scopes of work had to be carried out at the expense of our reserves. and we waited for months for payment.

In this situation, I must remember with sincere thanks to my subcontractors, namely: company directors and their teams. In Lviv, the main burnt was borne by “DEOS RELEASE” LLC and “HALKOMPLEKT” LLC ; in Donetsk – the collective enterprise “Zashchita”, which gained invaluable experience at the “Donbas Arena”, and “Blagos Engineering” Company.; in Kyiv – “Avancard” LLC and “Novaya osnova” LLC – the last company was a pleasant discovery for me in the fire security segment.

And of course, I must say about my employees. Since September last year, the company switched to the “24 hours 7 days a week” mode. Everybody forgot about the weekends. People have not seen their families for weeks and months. The schedule was so compressed that many things were done in parallel, for example: we put concrete in the evening, and in the morning there was a cable and trays. And in Lviv, light and sound were made simultaneously with the navigation bridge. The installers made a 5-meter section, and we immediately mounted our equipment there. Plus endless commissions, such as:  the Labour Protection Commission., the Audit Office, the Prosecution Office – some works had to be stopped until some circumstances were clarified. And then, in the UEFA planning meetings and protocol meetings, it was necessary to prove something, comment, and justify ourselves all the time.

S.UA: What do you think influenced people? Patriotism, prestige, salary?

A.L.: Let’s go down to the level of real life. People had a tremendous moral incentive, namely, work with Western designers. EURO 2012 has rapidly increased their professional level. Several designers in our company began to speak English confidently on professional topics. Although, of course, we changed approaches in financial encouragement. We could not forget about employees who have not been at home for months.

S.UA: What exactly, professionally, have your employees received, what has not yet been given to others?

A.L.: The EURO objects have been completed, well, let’s just say, that there remain only some secondary “uncompleted works”. Other projects will start with foreign investments. The market will increasingly face such terms and abbreviations as FM Global, VdS, and British Standart. For example, contractors “pick up” a contract, which says that all work must be performed according to FM Global., without understanding that these terms lead to an increase of work cost of 20-25%. This clause of the contract will hurt the General Contractor and, automatically, the licensee. So an experienced employee will immediately take an interest: Whom will we hand over the system? Dutch, Austrian or English insurance expert? And the inexperienced will do, as always, and then he will face a situation when he will be forced to remake or reinstall sprinklers. Because of the wrong density; or the alarm system is not correctly installed, or there are no certificates for no-name equipment purchased in Odessa at the 7th kilometer, but it is necessary the VdS certificate. And so on.

Unfortunately, there is no awareness of the construction market in our country, and in some cases even illiterate, and some investors use it. Therefore, our designers and engineers must go stride and develop parallel with the Europeans, in order to avoid such comic situations.

In addition, I would say about system integration. Today it’s not enough to have a designer who can make a design of the sprinkler fire extinguishing system, it’s half the battle, maybe even 30%. We felt disastrous when the designer sees only his “part”, and then he does not care. We should talk about the interconnection of all systems. And interconnection is not a dispatching system, it is, in fact, deep system integration. And our people have already had such an experience.

S.UA: And what experience have you gained as a top manager?

A.L .: For myself, I was convinced of the practical importance of ISO standards. It is not a secret that many, including, myself, consider the quality management system quite formally. At facilities such as stadiums and airports, it is death without ISO standards! I remember, that there were 15 versions of the same project on the Construction Site. During integration it turns out, that the plumbers put the toilet according to the first project, the pipe was laid according to another project, and the walls were already concreted and the tiles were laid …

I also realized that system integration should not be carried out by specialists in ventilation and air conditioning spheres or general construction specialists, this work should be implemented by the managers of the security system market. But they must be taught in this; of course, not all – but only those who are really interested.