Sienkevych called it unfair that Mykolaiv does not receive compensation for lost taxes, unlike Kharkiv

Mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Sienkevych. Illustrative photo: NikVesti

Mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that the state is unfair in its distribution of financial support among frontline cities. According to him, unlike Kharkiv, Mykolaiv does not receive compensation for lost taxes or additional funds for public transport maintenance.

He said this on the air of the municipal television channel MART.

The mayor explained that Ukraine has a reverse subsidy mechanism in place, whereby part of the funds from community budgets are transferred to the state budget for further redistribution to regions in need. However, Mykolaiv does not receive such compensation, but the city, according to him, needs help from the state.

«We believe that it should be fair. While Kharkiv is compensated for unpaid land taxes and other payments and receives additional funds to pay for public transport, Mykolaiv is currently receiving nothing. Therefore, we would like to receive assistance from the state,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The mayor also commented on the comparison between Mykolaiv and Kharkiv in terms of spending on festive events and urban infrastructure.

«Today, even some Mykolaiv residents, given the state of the city, seem to forget that there is a war going on. They raise issues of playgrounds, pedestrian zones, Christmas trees — it's surreal. They say, «Kharkiv can spend money, but you can't.» But we can't, because we don't have such budgets,» the mayor explained.

As a reminder, free public transport in Kharkiv, which was introduced in May 2022, is planned to remain in place even after the war ends. This was stated by the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.

As is known, the Mykolaiv City Council has appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with a request to provide an additional subsidy from the state budget. According to the city's calculations, its own budget revenues for 2026 are only enough to cover 82.5% of the real need, and the financial resource deficit exceeds 1 billion 140 million hryvnias.