Heat cabinets to be purchased for school canteens in Mykolaiv: Education Department has already announced a tender for ₴3.4 million

School canteens in Mykolaiv will be equipped with heaters that will allow them to serve hot cooked food to students.

This was reported by the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, commenting on the results of food inspections, NikVesti.

«We are now buying heating cabinets to serve hot food. We are also planning to switch to a subcontracting format: in schools without canteens, we will not bring food from other schools, but order catering — conclude contracts for cooking,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Currently, the Education Department of the City Council has announced a tender for the purchase of such heat cabinets for 20 schools, according to the Prozorro public procurement system.

The expected cost of the purchase is 3.4 million hryvnias. The contractor will have to deliver 7 two-section and 15 one-section heat cabinets by 25 December 2025.

They are to be installed in the following educational institutions: gymnasiums №4, 11, 13, 25, 29, 31, 32, 35, 39 and 47, lyceums №8, 9, 22, 34, 40, 41, 51, 58, as well as the Aleksandrov Lyceum and the «Academy of Children's Creativity».

The tender process is currently underway, and the contractor will be selected after 18 November.

As a reminder, Mykolaiv is preparing to upgrade its school catering system: the municipal enterprise will engage subcontractors for catering in schools without kitchens.

Complaints about food in Mykolaiv schools

Earlier, parents of Mykolaiv schoolchildren posted complaints about free meals on social media, saying that they received cold meals, undersized portions and dirty dishes.

Petro Vasheniak, the director of the municipal enterprise responsible for catering, stated that he had personally checked the situation and that the portions met the standards, while some of the dishes were simply not visible in the photos published. After that, the situation was checked by both the utility company and the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, which reported that it had not received any official complaints.

This year, all students from grades 1 to 11 receive free lunches — the costs are covered by the state and the city budget.

After parents' complaints, the Office of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights sent a request to the Department of Education. In response, the city authorities set up a commission with representatives of the city council, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, deputies and parents. Between 16 and 24 September, they inspected 13 schools and found violations: lack of hot running water, dishes with damaged enamel, lack of refrigerators and problems with food storage, as well as shortcomings in the organisation of the process and documentation.

The Ombudsman's office stated that it would monitor how the city addresses the shortcomings. Earlier, the authorities also reported that they were considering installing cameras in school canteens.