What problems does Mykolaiv face, and is the city council addressing them? The mayor and councillors respond

What are the main issues facing Mykolaiv today? Were they resolved at the city council meeting? And what are the most common issues residents raise with councillors?

Journalists from NikVesti asked the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, and Mykolaiv City Council members — Olena Kiseliova, Oleksandr Bereza and Hanna Remennikova — about this after the city council session held on 12 March.

• Question from a NikVesti journalist: Could you name the three to five most pressing problems facing our city?

«Water, bridges, having enough people and having jobs,» replied Olena Kiseliova.

«The main issues in the city are water and roads. The main thing is that we don’t have enough budget, we don’t have enough money for salaries,» replied Hanna Remennikova.

«The security aspect. It completely dictates the daily rhythm of life and generally influences all plans for the future,» replied Oleksandr Bereza.

• Question from a NikVesti journalist: Which of these issues were discussed at today’s city council session, and were they resolved in any way?

«There were explanations regarding water and the commissioning of treatment facilities, which should ensure water quality regardless of the conditions under which it is supplied,» replied Olena Kiseliova.

«There were only land issues and one issue regarding municipal property,» replied Hanna Remennikova.

«The city council session discussed purely land-related issues,» replied Oleksandr Bereza.

• Question from a NikVesti journalist: What issues do voters most often raise with you?

«Strange as it may sound, it’s financial assistance, roads and everything related to urban improvements — pavements, playgrounds,» replied Olena Kiseliova.

«Playgrounds, roads, internal neighbourhood roads, roads in the private sector and damaged infrastructure,» replied Hanna Remennikova.

«Roof repairs, requests for housing inspections following explosions, people who left the city but have now returned and are trying to resolve these issues, as well as the clearance of rubbish dumps,» replied Oleksandr Bereza.

• A question from a NikVesti journalist: Is it possible to resolve these issues in any way?

«These problems can only be resolved by increasing the workforce in these areas, and this requires funding for all relevant sectors and industries,» replied Olena Kiseliova.

«Everything requires funding, yes. Unfortunately, this year we have not yet received anything for the city’s development, construction or road repairs,» replied Hanna Remennikova.

«Gradually, taking into account the available financial resources, we are making progress year by year, planning and trying to implement what we have planned,» replied Oleksandr Bereza.

• Question from a NikVesti journalist: This term of office has now lasted over five years. If elections are held in the near future, do you plan to stand again?

«I cannot answer that question; it depends on many factors,» replied Olena Kiseliova.

«I cannot answer in any way, just as I am sure many other politicians, including the President of Ukraine, feel the same,» replied Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych.

«I can’t give you a definite answer, but I think not. It all depends on various circumstances,» replied Hanna Remennikova.

«I’ve decided not to plan too far ahead, but to set specific tasks today and tackle them right now,» replied Oleksandr Bereza.

• Question from the journalist: How would you describe this term of office in one word?

«That’s a difficult question... It didn’t work out,» replied Olena Kiselova.

«I can’t even say that,» replied Hanna Remennikova.

«A term of war,» replied Oleksandr Bereza.

«It was a military term of office,» replied Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych.

Wastewater treatment facilities, education and the ‘failure’ of land issues: how the Mykolaiv City Council session went

As a reminder, on 12 March, the second plenary meeting of the 51st regular session of the Mykolaiv City Council took place. Councillors considered land issues, discussed the launch of new water treatment facilities and the improvement of the music school grounds. The agenda included 124 land-related items and one current issue, which had been carried over from the previous meeting due to the loss of a quorum. Thirty-four councillors took part in the meeting, most of whom joined online.

In particular, during the session, councillors approved a decision to accept the new water treatment facilities onto Mykolaiv’s balance sheet. The final decision on the transfer must now be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The contractor, Avtostrada, plans to complete the construction of the new water treatment facilities for Mykolaiv by 15 April 2026. As Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych reported, construction of the facility is currently underway.

The mayor proposed that councillors support the decision to approve the transfer of the facilities to Mykolaiv’s ownership. This is necessary so that, once construction is complete, they can be put into operation under the municipal enterprise Mykolaivvodokanal and connected to the electricity supply. The City Council unanimously supported the decision — 33 councillors voted in favour.

The councillors also attempted to consider 116 land-related issues at once, grouping them into a so-called «package». However, there were not enough votes to pass the decision. The package vote included issues concerning both individuals and legal entities relating to land.

One of the issues also included in the ‘package’ vote was a draft resolution on the conduct of a normative monetary valuation of land in the city of Mykolaiv, developed by the Department of Architecture. The draft resolution was submitted by the chief architect, Yevhen Poliakov. The explanatory note to the draft resolution states that its aim is the economic regulation of land relations and the determination of current land payment rates in the city of Mykolaiv. The last normative monetary valuation of the city’s land was approved in 2019 by a decision of the Mykolaiv City Council. The work is planned to be funded from the local budget. The Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Mykolaiv City Council will act as the client for the work, in accordance with the requirements of the law. Once the work has been completed, the results will be submitted to the city council for further approval by a separate decision.

During the session, it also emerged that the Danish government is prepared to provide €45 million in grant funding for the modernisation of new wastewater treatment facilities in Mykolaiv.

According to Oleksandr Sienkevych, the total cost of the modernisation is around €80 million. Denmark is prepared to provide part of the funds, with the remainder to be secured through a loan from the European Investment Bank.

During the session, the issue of improving the grounds of Music School №8 in Mykolaiv was also discussed, where three municipal institutions are currently housed: the music school, Gymnasium №12 and the children’s and youth cycling sports school.

During the meeting, Oleksandr Sienkevych announced a formal instruction that Mykolaiv City Council would contact the police regarding non-compliance with traffic regulations for heavy goods vehicles crossing the Varvarivskyi Bridge.

Councillor Fedir Panchenko put forward this proposal to the mayor. He noted that lorry drivers frequently ignore the executive committee’s decision regulating the procedure and timetable for large vehicles crossing the bridge. At the same time, according to the councillor, the patrol police do not respond to such violations.