All budget payments suspended in Mykolaiv due to lack of funds for salaries and utilities

The key spending units of Mykolaiv, as well as utility companies, have been instructed to suspend all payments for expenditures that do not relate to protected items, namely public sector salaries and utility bills.

This was reported by NikVesti was informed by sources in the Mykolaiv City Council.

According to the available information, the day before, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, gave a corresponding order. The reason for this was the lack of budget funds to cover the protected budget items by the end of the year. We are talking about an estimated amount of over 200 million hryvnias.

This includes all financial obligations, except for protected items and state subventions.

It should be noted that the problem has been known for a long time, as the annual budget did not include funds for mandatory payments by the end of the year. The mayor's office hoped that budget overruns and savings during the year would help find the funds.

Back in September, Fedir Panchenko, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council and chairman of the planning and budgeting committee, warned of a shortfall in the city's budget for mandatory payments by the end of the year. At the time, he announced a figure of 200 million hryvnias.

«We need to find about 200 million hryvnias more for mandatory payments by the end of the year. And I appealed to everyone, including my colleagues and the mayor, to find it. Unfortunately, the reserve is in reducing the number of new facilities that can be built this year. And the reserve is in optimisation, savings on bidding, on the work. It is cheaper and more efficient to complete some projects and optimise the structure,» said Fedir Panchenko on 3 September on the public TV channel «MART».

He also spoke about this at a meeting of the budget committee of the city council on the same day when considering the decision to reallocate the city's budget. Back then, he said that it was necessary to look for money for protected items for November and December.

«Usually, deputies look for and suggest where to use the funds. But we are announcing a new call for proposals on where to withdraw money for mandatory payments until the end of the year,» said Panchenko to his colleagues on the budget committee on 3 September.

According to the finance department, which is published on the official website of the city council, as of 1 November, revenues to the general fund of the Mykolaiv budget amounted to 82% of the annual plan, including subventions.

Interlocutors from among the deputies and employees of executive bodies wonder why the finance department did not report the shortfall earlier and what to do with the obligations that structural units have to service providers, including the utilities sector.

Also, as of 14 November, there is no information on where the funds are proposed to be found. It is worth noting that the session of the Mykolaiv City Council, where budgetary issues are among the issues to be discussed, is scheduled for 27 November. In a comment to NikVesti, the head of the budget commission, Fedir Panchenko, said that the deputies had not been officially informed of the difficult financial situation, and that they had not been provided with a draft decision on budget redistribution.

Earlier it was reported that the municipal enterprise «Mykolaiv Parks» is asking the city council for permission to borrow 43 million hryvnias to buy new cleaning machines.

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