Sienkevych is preparing a bill for a special economic zone for cities near the frontline: «Otherwise, we will get a depressed region»

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, has said that he will prepare a draft law for a special economic zone for frontline cities and propose that MPs from the region promote it in parliament.

The mayor said this during his press conference on 30 July, answering questions from a correspondent of NikVesti.

The mayor said that he had spoken to MPs, the head of Mykolaiv's regional administration Vitalii Kim and the Belgian ambassador to Ukraine about this.

«We are talking about it now, but everyone, as always, says let's do it after the war. We actually have a desire to engage specialists today, perhaps with private funding, to develop at least a draft law that we could use.

I think that we will now come to the point where we will develop a draft law and propose to the deputies to push it through as a pilot project for Mykolaiv region,» said Sienkevych.

He believes that this may be the only way to encourage businesses to operate in frontline cities, including Mykolaiv.

«If we are talking about the same business conditions for Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi and Lviv, and different territorial and military risks, what is the point of doing and building something in Mykolaiv at the current prices for transit in Ukraine between regions. It makes no sense for business: the risks are greater and the profit is the same. And what can this lead to? It will lead to a domino effect. That is, opening normal businesses in the west or in the centre of Ukraine and not opening them here will lead to an outflow of human resources, of people who want to earn money and live normally. The outflow of personnel, tax cuts will lead to a reduction in the budget and less infrastructure development here. There will be no playgrounds, no kindergartens, no medical care. And this will lead to an even greater outflow of human resources. Thus, we will get a depressed region without any prospects,» said the mayor.

Special economic zone for Mykolaiv. What is known?

The issue of creating a free economic zone for the city of Mykolaiv was raised back in 2023. At that time, the mayor of Mykolaiv said that he had already spoken to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about this issue.

And the Secretary of the City Council, Dmytro Falko, believes that this will help open a «window of opportunity» for investors who will come to Mykolaiv and be ready to invest in business.

In October 2024, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said that Mykolaiv would not be able to develop without tax breaks from the state, as Mykolaiv does not attract investors and is inferior to other regions of Ukraine due to high business risks.

And in April 2025, the mayor discussed the need to create a special economic zone for the city with representatives of the Danish Export Investment Fund.