«Before giving an assessment, you should do your job»: Prosecutor's Office responds harshly to Mykolaiv mayor's statement that searches are a PR campaign

The Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office has responded to statements by Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych, who called the searches of the city council a PR campaign by law enforcement.

According to the press service of the Mykolaiv regional prosecutor's office, the department regarded the mayor's statement as an attempt to divert attention from real violations and to question the legality of the investigative actions.

Earlier today, during a conversation with journalists, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych called the searches of the city council far-fetched and not constituting a crime.

In response, the prosecutor's office said that a pre-trial investigation had been launched into possible abuses by city council officials during the tender for the distribution of household waste. It is a long-term contract for a conditional budget of 1.25 billion hryvnias.

Law enforcement officers conducted searches in the city council's structural units, during which they seized documents and other materials that may have evidentiary value.

They are currently checking the circumstances of the preparation and conduct of the tender, under which the company without proper equipment and experience in implementing similar projects won, the prosecutor's office said.

«This is not «PR», but the implementation of the law. Before assessing the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies, you should do your own. The rest of the arguments will be considered by the court,» the prosecutor's office of Mykolaiv region replied to the mayor.

As you know, on 21 August, the building of Mykolaiv City Council was searched. The next day, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, said that the tender to select a company to build the sorting line in Mykolaiv was conducted improperly and its terms were unfavourable to the community.

He also added that Mykolaiv needs to build a modern sorting line, but not on the terms that are currently being proposed for approval by the city council.

Landfill near Mykolaiv

Back in 2020, in a commentary to NikVesti, the mayor of Mykolaiv said that the city's existing landfill would last for another 10 years, i.e. until 2030.

It is located on the territory of Vesnianske village council in Mykolaiv district. The landfill was put into operation in 1972 with a 50-year lifespan, i.e. until 2022. It is designed to dispose of 50 million cubic metres of waste.

The report on the strategic environmental assessment of the draft master plan for Mykolaiv, published in 2018, stated that the city's landfill capacity was 98% exhausted. Therefore, they added, it is imperative to build new modern waste sorting and recycling facilities, introduce separate waste collection, and increase the use of recycled materials.

On 20 May 2024, Mykolaiv selected a company to build a sorting line for solid waste processing. The winner of the tender was «Waste To Energy Niko».

In September 2024, the procedure for the operation of the household waste sorting line and the terms of the tender were agreed upon. It was reported that the sorting line will be able to process up to 70% of waste, and the remaining 30% will be buried. The project stipulates that the company that wins the tender will transfer at least 10% of its profits to the maintenance of the landfill.

The terms of the agreement include a 25-year period of cooperation. There were warnings in the city council that this was too long and could limit the community's flexibility. At the initiative of the chairman of the planning and budgetary commission of the city council, Fedir Panchenko, an alternative draft decision has already been developed — to refuse the agreement with «Waste To Energy Niko» for waste sorting. Earlier, in a commentary to NikVesti, «Waste To Energy Niko», which won the investment tender held by the city council, assured that such a system would not only reduce the load on the city's landfill, but would also allow the city to save money, create new jobs and gain access to international «green» financing.