Sienkevych has instructed officials to report on the loans taken out by Mykolaiv’s municipal enterprises

The Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, has instructed municipal utilities to report on the situation regarding loans, photo: NikVesti

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych has asked municipal enterprises to provide detailed information regarding their financial obligations under major loans. In particular, this concerns the municipal enterprises «Mykolaivvodokanal», «Mykolaivoblteploenergo», «Mykolaivelektrotrans» and «Mykolaivpastrans».

This was discussed on 9 July during a session of the Mykolaiv City Council, according to NikVesti.

In accordance with the mayor’s directive, the municipal utilities are to organise the data, specifying the banks involved, the exact amounts of debt in foreign currency and all additional payments.

«I am instructing you to provide information on outstanding loan balances and loan debts, specifying the name of the bank and the amounts in foreign currency. I also ask you to seek proposals on the possibility of reducing the interest rate and switching to the hryvnia equivalent. And any additional payments,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The mayor has asked the Finance Department of Mykolaiv City Council to assist with the analysis of loan obligations and the development of a refinancing strategy.

It was previously reported that Mykolaiv’s budget had fallen short of its tax revenue target by 60 million hryvnias since the start of the year.

It should be recalled that City Council councillor Olena Kiseliova has called for work to begin immediately on preparing the city’s budget for 2027 and for a limited list of areas to be identified that Mykolaiv can be guaranteed to fund.

Meanwhile, Mykolaiv’s Capital Construction Department has once again shown a negative trend in the use of budget funds. This is evidenced by data on the use of Mykolaiv’s budget as at 1 July, published on the city council’s official website.

What is the situation with Mykolaiv’s budget?

Back in May, at a city council session, it was reported that by the end of 2026 the city would be short of nearly 150 million hryvnias for school meals. Of this amount, over 109 million hryvnias are needed for nurseries, over 33 million hryvnias for co-funding school meals, and a further 7 million hryvnias for special schools and vocational education institutions.

At the time, city councillors appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada, requesting that additional funding be allocated to Mykolaiv from the state budget.

In June, the Executive Committee of the Mykolaiv City Council reallocated 864,500 hryvnias for meals in nurseries. At the time, the city council noted that these funds would only last until the end of the summer, after which the city council would seek additional funding. There is currently a shortfall of 60 million hryvnias required to finalise the contract for meals in kindergartens.

At the end of June, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine refused Mykolaiv’s request for 150 million hryvnias to organise meals in educational institutions. The ministry explained that these expenditure items for nurseries and vocational education institutions should be funded from the local authority budget, and also highlighted the growth in the city’s budget revenue.

On 1 July, the Government allocated a grant of 187.5 million hryvnias to fund school meals for pupils in the Mykolaiv region between September and November 2026.

Earlier, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that Mykolaiv’s 2026 budget was a «survival budget» and did not cover all the community’s needs. According to him, the city lacks the funds to implement the state-initiated pay rise for teachers, to pay for utilities, to repair roads and to cover other expenditure.

Back at the start of the year, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych reported that the Ministry of Finance would analyse Mykolaiv’s financial situation to assess the city’s need for additional funding. At the same time, he emphasised that the final decision depends not only on the Ministry of Finance’s calculations, but also on the political will of parliament.