«The practice of blackmailing MPs should be forgotten», Kiseliova on consideration of issues at sessions

At a session of the Mykolaiv City Council, deputy Olena Kiseliova criticised the practice of putting pressure on deputies during voting. She suggested adopting only those decisions that are not controversial and postponing the rest to other meetings.

She made this statement during the continuation of the session of the Mykolaiv City Council on Tuesday, 30 September, according to NikVesti.

Olena Kiseliova supported her colleague Tetiana Dombrovska, who asked the mayor to end the session, which has been going on since August, instead of constantly adding new issues to the agenda. Tetiana Dombrovska emphasised that important decisions are mixed with minor ones and «selfish agendas of the mayor's team».

«Every time we stumble over the fact that the budget needs to be considered because there is the issue of shelters. It is true that it is important. But the practice of blackmail or soft pressure on the deputies, saying that they need to vote because it is absolutely necessary, should be forgotten», Olena Kiseliova said.

She cited the example of the budget issue, which the committee considered almost on the eve of the session and had already been submitted for consideration. According to her, not all MPs have time to read all of its points in detail. That is why, she said, misunderstandings and disputes constantly arise during sessions.

«When we consider the budget issue, which was considered on 26.09 at the Budget Committee. Well, I really believe in the professionalism of all MPs and that they know all the budget issues, but unfortunately, I cannot boast of such knowledge. Therefore, when we come to the budget, we always have some problems and some dissatisfaction», said MP Olena Kiseliova.

It should be noted that on 28 August, the deputies of Mykolaiv City Council approved the updated structure of the executive bodies of the city hall. Later, Tetiana Dombrovska stated that she did not support the draft decision «On streamlining the structure of the Mykolaiv City Council and its executive bodies» (s-dz-001). At the same time, her vote is listed in the minutes of the session as «for».

She published an official correspondence with the Secretary Dmytro Falko regarding the results of the roll-call vote to replace the structure of the city hall, where she claims that «abstained», while the protocol indicates «for».

In addition, on 3 September, the second plenary meeting of the Mykolaiv City Council session was to take place, where deputies were proposed to approve 57 land issues and budget redistribution. However, the meeting was not held due to the insufficient number of deputies after a dispute between Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych and deputy Tetiana Dombrovska over the vote to reform the structure of the city hall.

The session continued on 4 September. During the session, Vitalii Kim, head of Mykolaiv's regional administration, responded to the doubts of city council members about the feasibility of funding the regional municipal guard from the city budget. He reminded them that the guard is involved in air defence and «90% of its work is aimed at protecting Mykolaiv». At the session, the deputies also approved amendments to the budget for 2025. The city's revenues have increased by over 623 million hryvnias due to additional taxes and subventions from the state.

On 11 September, the deputies of Mykolaiv City Council gathered for the fourth plenary meeting of the session to consider land issues. However, due to insufficient votes, the meeting had to be postponed again. Vitalii Kim, a deputy and head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, called the session «a sham».

In a commentary to NikVesti, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said he would seek a compromise for further dialogue with the deputy corps to «unblock» the work of the Mykolaiv City Council sessions.