The first Ukrainian team in Euroleague hopes to establish itself among Europe’s elite for good despite making debut just this season.
Gediminas Navikauskas, GM of Budivelnik Kiev, told basketnews.lt that his club’s next goal is to receive Euroleague A License. Navikauskas’ primary goal after joining Ukrainian champions from Zalgiris was to earn Budivelnik a spot in Euroleague.
Euroleague door was opened to the club from Ukrainian capital after it was given a wildcard for this season’s edition. Navikauskas revealed that the plan was to get there in 2014-2015.
The team is building a 15,000-seat arena in Kiev that would make Budivelnik meet all of Euroleague’s requirements. In addition, Euroleague would like to enter Ukrainian market with a population of nearly 45 million.
Navikauskas also confirmed that Ksystof Lavrinovic will join his brother Darjus next season as Budivelnik couldn’t sign him this year due to foreigners limit.
