Voznesensk sets new prices for meals in kindergartens for 2026

Starting from 1 January 2025, Voznesensk will set new tariffs for meals in kindergartens.

The relevant draft decision has been published on the website of the Voznesensk City Council. It is to be considered at the next meeting of the executive committee on 19 December, NikVesti reports.

It is assumed that the cost of meals for children aged 1 to 4 years will be 90.81 hryvnias, and for children aged 4 to 6-7 years — 116.61 hryvnias.

Parents will pay 75% of this amount. There are also benefits:

• 50% of this amount will be paid by families with many children and families affected by the Chernobyl disaster.
• Free meals will be provided for orphans, children from families receiving state social assistance, children of combatants, IDPs and those whose parents were killed in the defence of Ukraine.

In 2025, the cost of meals in Voznesensk's kindergartens was lower: 70.81 hryvnias for children aged 1-4, and 96.61 hryvnias for children aged 4-6-7.

Catering for Mykolaiv schoolchildren

On 9 December, NikVesti showed the process of providing some of the city's schools with meals prepared by a private company «Prossecco 8», which received a catering contract from the municipal enterprise. Parents of the children said that they did not receive breakfast on Monday, and the food was delivered only in the afternoon.

The footage showed the company's employees cooking porridge outside under a tent in the rain.

Vitalii Kim, a deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council and head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, responded to the scandal. After that, the Main Department of the National Police of Mykolaiv Region opened a criminal investigation into violations of the rules for preparing food for city schoolchildren.

Only in the evening did the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, respond to the video. The mayor called the situation unacceptable and initiated an inspection.

In her turn, Tetiana Dombrovska, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council, called the scandal with the new catering for schoolchildren a failure of the authorities. She demanded the dismissal of Vice Mayor Anatolii Petrov and Director of the MPE-C Petro Vasheniak.

The State Audit Service has launched an audit of the procurement of catering services for Mykolaiv's educational institutions due to signs of violations of public procurement laws.

It should be noted that the Mykolaiv City Hall decided to engage a private contractor after a public outcry over the quality of school meals. At the end of November, the municipal enterprise KOP chose the company «Prossecco 8», which will deliver food to some of the city's schools in December. During the open tender «PROSSECCO 8» became the only participant and winner of the tender for catering services. The price of the services was 14 million 279 thousand 658 hryvnias.

Since the morning of 12 December, employees of the Strategic Investigations Department of Mykolaiv Region, together with the police, have been conducting searches at «Prossecco 8», the Department of Education and the catering company.

The searches were conducted as part of criminal proceedings under Article 191 (4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — misappropriation or embezzlement of property on a particularly large scale or committed by an organised group.

As a result, the municipal production enterprise for catering in Mykolaiv schools unilaterally terminated the contract with «Prossecco 8» due to violations of the food supply schedule and violations of sanitary standards.