Mykolaiv City Council has concluded that half a billion is needed to restore 51 schools

The ruined building of Mykolaiv Lyceum №51, August 2025, photo: NikVesti

It will cost 470 million hryvnias to rebuild the destroyed building of Mykolaiv Lyceum №51.

Oleksii Savchuk, head of the Capital Construction Department, told NikVesti that the contractor has now drawn up the project documentation, which has already been assessed by experts.

«The expert review has already been completed, and we have received a positive expert report. The final cost amounts to 470 million hryvnias,» he said.

Donors are being offered both options: the refurbishment of the existing building and the construction of a completely new facility, which would cost 1 billion hryvnias.

«We have potential donors in mind whom we can approach, but I won’t name them just yet, as we need to get some feedback first before discussing this further.

As for the large-scale project, discussions have taken place and the donors have requested the project documentation, including reports and so on. They are currently reviewing it, and we are confident that one of the projects will definitely go ahead,» said Oleksii Savchuk.

Previously, NikVesti reported that there are plans in Mykolaiv to develop another project for Lyceum №51, which was destroyed by shelling — this time for its reconstruction.

A NikVesti journalist asked whether this was in line with the conclusion of the Capital Construction Department’s technical council regarding the future of the destroyed school building. At the time, it was stated that the building was beyond repair and required only demolition and new construction.

However, Oleksii Savchuk, head of the Capital Construction Department, stated that before drawing up the second design — this time for the school’s reconstruction — the contractor would carry out a technical survey of the damaged building to determine whether it is suitable for restoration.

Prior to this, the city authorities had already commissioned a design for the new «golden» lyceum at a cost of 6.3 million hryvnias; building the school from scratch under this plan would cost over 1 billion hryvnias.

Read the article by NikVesti entitled ««This is our home». How is the ruined Lyceum №51 teaching its pupils, and is it worth waiting for its reconstruction?»

Mykolaiv Lyceum №51

As is well known, building a new lyceum will cost 1 billion hryvnias, according to Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych. 6.3 million hryvnias have been allocated from the city budget to commission the design for the new building.

The mayor also said that international donors will not provide such funds, and there are no such funds in the local or state budgets.

Although the mayor has announced the estimated cost of building the lyceum, there is currently no finalised design. It was due to have been drawn up a year ago — by the summer of 2024. However, the development process has been delayed — the contractor promised to complete it by the end of March 2025, but once again failed to meet this deadline.

Ihor Kopytin, a Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, has spoken out against the idea of building a new lyceum. He believes that the destroyed building should be rebuilt, as this would cost around 30 million hryvnias.

At the same time, Oleksii Savchuk, head of the capital construction department at Mykolaiv City Council, stated that the city would «take measures» to build a new Lyceum №51.

The construction of Lyceum №51 in Mykolaiv was previously included in a list of five projects in the Mykolaiv region for which 667.9 million hryvnias had been allocated from the state budget in 2023. The school building was hit by a Russian missile in July 2022.

Initially, Hanna Lychko, head of the city council’s education department, said that School №51 was of great importance to Mykolaiv, so it would be rebuilt. However, the technical committee under the city council’s capital construction department concluded that the building of Lyceum №51 needed to be demolished. Following this, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych announced that a new, modern school with shelters equipped for children would be built in its place.

Anatolii Petrov, Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv, told NikVesti that the construction project for Lyceum №51 would be drawn up by summer 2024. He later explained that the plan is to build three blocks there for primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education.

In March 2024, the City Council’s Capital Construction Department signed a contract worth 6.3 million hryvnias for the development of the Lyceum’s construction project.

Once the design had been finalised, it was reported that the Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service in the Mykolaiv region would be responsible for the construction of the school.