The selection of a waste sorting company in Mykolaiv has been postponed due to queries regarding financial documents

Opening of tenders submitted by participants in the preliminary tender, 15 July 2026. Photo: NikVesti

The tender committee responsible for selecting the operator of the municipal solid waste sorting line in Mykolaiv has not yet announced a winner. During the meeting, committee members raised further questions regarding the participant’s documentation, particularly concerning its financial position.

This was reported by Ihor Nabatov, Deputy Director of the Department of Municipal Services at Mykolaiv City Council, during a broadcast on the «MART» television channel.

According to him, the tender committee meeting took place on 7 September. The committee considered eight out of nine evaluation criteria, regarding which no significant concerns were raised. However, questions remained regarding one of the criteria – the bidder’s financial capacity.

Specifically, the company provided financial statements for 2025 and the first quarter of 2026; however, at the time of the meeting, there was no report for the second quarter of 2026, i.e. for the first half of the year.

«This was important to us in terms of understanding the company’s financial capacity and its ability to carry out this investment project using its own resources,» explained Ihor Nabatov.

The participant has now provided the additional financial report. Members of the selection committee are to familiarise themselves with the document before the next meeting.

At the same time, Ihor Nabatov noted that this is not the only issue that may potentially arise during the review of the documents. Therefore, a final decision on the winner has not yet been taken.

The tender committee is expected to meet for a second time. Following the meeting, the committee may select the winner; however, it cannot be ruled out that other members may raise further questions.

The final decision is to be taken by the Mykolaiv City Council at a session.

It should be recalled that following the failed third tender to select a household waste sorting operator, the Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stated that he was prepared to support changes to the tender rules if councillors were to put forward such proposals. However, immediately afterwards, a fourth tender was announced under the same rules, which was due to run until 31 August.

At the Mykolaiv City Council session on 27 August, a heated debate erupted regarding the current terms of the tender to select a household waste sorting operator, involving the Mayor of Mykolaiv.

Fedir Panchenko also outlined all his comments in detail at the meeting of the Budget Committee on 25 August. He gave a presentation in which he set out the reasoning behind all his proposals. Further details can be found in the article by NikVesti.

The situation regarding the construction of a sorting line in Mykolaiv

Mykolaiv had previously announced a similar tender on three occasions, but was unable to select an operator at the time.

In 2024, councillors approved the operating procedures for the solid waste sorting complex and announced an investment tender. The first did not take place, whilst the second was won by «Waste To Energy Niko» LLC. However, the company received only the minimum required score, and councillors, along with the then head of the regional state administration, Vitalii Kim, criticised the lack of transparency in the procedure and the unfavourable terms.

Law enforcement agencies opened an investigation and carried out searches at the city council. At the session on 28 August, councillors did not support the approval of the contract with the winning bidder. Following this, the city authorities began preparing new terms for the tender. Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that the process would be public, involving international partners, notably from Denmark.

At the session, councillors were due to approve the updated operating procedures for the household waste sorting complex. However, in March 2026, the vote failed. It was, however, approved a month later, in May.

Only one company submitted a bid for the repeat tender to select the company that would build and operate the waste sorting facility in Mykolaiv: LNK Recycling LLC, part of the Ukrainian-American LNK Group. The French company Veolia, which had previously expressed an interest in participating, did not submit a bid.

However, no winner was selected. The sole participant did not achieve the required number of points from the commission.

In general, the issue of waste sorting in Mykolaiv was first raised back in 2019, when the cost of two sorting lines was estimated at approximately 10 million hryvnias. At the time, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych insisted that the costs should be borne by investors, rather than the city budget. Although a waste management programme was adopted, it was never actually implemented.

The Supreme Court ruled that the city council’s inaction was unlawful and ordered the construction of a waste sorting line, as the landfill site, which has been in operation since 1972, has reached the end of its useful life.