Paid car parks have appeared in the centre of Mykolaiv. How will they work and who will control payment?

Paid parking at the intersection of Spaska and Soborna streets in the centre of Mykolaiv, photo: NikVesti

In recent years, the number of cars on the roads of Mykolaiv has increased significantly. The city authorities, following other Ukrainian cities, decided to «regulate parking». Free and paid car parks have started to appear in the city, as well as a special inspection based at the transport department of the city council to monitor compliance with the rules.

Paid parking in the city is managed by the municipal enterprise «Timeset», and the free parking is the responsibility of a specialised municipal installation and maintenance company.

Drivers can already use different parking options today. Meanwhile, inspectors make sure that cars are parked in the appropriate places.

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 NikVesti  found out how car parks work in Mykolaiv, whether the inspection fulfils its function, and what drivers themselves think about car parks.

How do paid car parks work?

The first 8 city paid car parks were launched in early summer 2025. All of them are located in the centre of Mykolaiv. Another 3 car parks are currently being prepared for launch, Vitalii Kolpashchykov, director of the utility company «Timeset», explained in a comment to NikVesti. They will also be located in the city centre.

Parking along Admiralska Street in the centre of Mykolaiv, photo: NikVesti

In other words, the city has officially approved 11 paid parking areas with a total of 119 parking spaces. The city council's executive committee determines the locations by its decision in accordance with the Law of Ukraine «On Local Self-Government in Ukraine» №280/97.

Paid car parks are equipped with information boards, markings and a QR code to pay for parking. The first 10 minutes of parking are free, says Vitalii Kolpashchykov, director of «Timeset». However, if the driver plans to leave his car for a longer time, the cost is 20 hryvnias per hour. You can pay for the service only by bank transfer within 10 minutes after you park your car. The first ten minutes of parking are free.

A sign with a QR code at a paid car park in the centre of Mykolaiv, photo by NikVesti

Paid car parks are also equipped with spaces for people with disabilities, who can use this service free of charge. At the same time, these car parks remain paid even for combatants and war veterans, as the city council has not made any decisions on benefits or free parking in these places for them, the municipal enterprise «Timeset» explained to NikVesti.

A parking space for people with disabilities on Spaska Street in the centre of Mykolaiv, photo: NikVesti

It is worth noting that you can park for free at paid car parks on Sundays and public holidays. However, information about this is available on information boards only in English.

A sign at a paid car park in Mykolaiv, photo by NikVesti

«The driver pulls up to the car park and has 10 minutes to pay. That is, he has time to go to the information sign, scan the QR code and fill in three main components: car number, car brand and the number of hours he plans to stay in this place,» explained Vitalii Kolpashchykov.

At the time of payment, information about the car and the planned parking time is transferred to the tablets of the city council's transport department, which then controls the time the car stays.

The «Timeset» expects drivers to use paid parking for 70% of their total time.

«The expected indicator is that the occupancy rate will be at least 60-70% of the time for which they pay for this parking,» says Vitalii Kolpashchykov.

The director of «Timeset» calls «traffic management» the purpose of the paid parking arrangement.

«That is, to relieve the streets in the most critical places of pedestrian and vehicle traffic. We have the most pedestrians and vehicles in the city centre, so we decided to start there. So far, all the paid car parks are in the city centre,» explained Vitalii Kolpashchykov.

Is there enough free parking in the city centre?

There are still free car parks around the city, because «cannot limit parking exclusively to paid», says Vitalii Kolpashchykov.

«There is a percentage ratio. If you have seen, there is paid parking on one side of Admiralska Street and free parking on the other. That is, all this was taken into account in the percentage ratio so that people could park for free,» added the director of «Timeset».

For example, in the city centre, some parking spaces on several streets were left free of charge: Spaska, Zakhystnykiv Mista, Naberezhna, and the car park near the city council building.

There is currently no need to make these car parks paid for, as Deputy Mayor Yurii Andriienko explained earlier. According to him, parking spaces on these streets are mostly occupied by employees of regional institutions who come to work in the morning and leave only in the evening.

«There is no large flow of tourists or ordinary drivers who would actively use these places,» added Yurii Andriienko.

A free parking space along Admiralska Street near the city council building, photo by NikVesti

However, not everyone agreed with this position. Andrii Yantar, a city council member from the party «Proposal», believes it is unfair that some workers have to pay for parking while others do not.

«If the workers of the flower market on Spaska Street have to pay for parking, why shouldn't the prosecutor's office workers? Or, for example, «Nibulon» — there is a large number of employees there, but the parking is small. This is a selective approach. And there are a lot of cars there. In addition, it is unclear what guarantees the driver will receive if he pays for a space but the car is damaged. Is there a provision that regulates this?» asked Andrii Yantar, a member of the parliament.

And Fedir Panchenko, chairman of the budget committee, deputy from the party «Proposal» , noted that if separate free zones remain in the centre, vehicles from paid areas will move there en masse. This could result in traffic jams, and even the institutions themselves, whose employees will not pay, will start complaining.

«If free parking is left near the prosecutor's office, everyone will start leaving their cars there. Both market workers and those who don't want to pay. As a result, there will be complaints from the institutions themselves, and we will have to restrict parking even more,» he said.

In general, the executive committee has no data on the number of free parking spaces in the city, Oleh Kuksa, deputy head of the transport department at the mayor's office, told NikVesti.

«At present, the executive committee has not systematised information on the number of free parking spaces in the city and has not approved the addresses of their locations,» he said.

Why are some car parks in the city centre fenced off with tape?

For several months now, car parks near law enforcement buildings in the centre of Mykolaiv have been fenced off with warning tape and road blocks. It is currently impossible to park there and the parking spaces are empty.

The car park near the law enforcement building in the centre of Mykolaiv is fenced off with caution tape, photo by NikVesti

NikVesti decided to find out why the parking spaces there are currently closed from Vitalii Dushko, a press officer of the Patrol Police Department in Mykolaiv region. It has nothing to do with the installation of paid parking in the city.

«This was done due to the security situation. Vehicle parking is temporarily restricted for the safety of employees and visitors,» explained Vitalii Dushko.

It is worth noting that a few months ago, Russia was preparing a terrorist attack near the National Police building, but law enforcement officers managed to prevent it. Earlier this year, three military personnel were injured in an explosive attack. Similar incidents also occur in other cities.

«The spaces are too narrow». What do drivers think about the car parks?

The first driver that NikVesti spoke to was unable to enter his car number into the app to pay for parking. So he decided to park his car somewhere else.

Later, in a commentary to NikVesti, Vitalii Kolpashchykov, director of «Timeset», explained that such cases did occur, but as of 16 June, the issue had already been resolved and drivers should not have any problems with the app.

Another driver who has used the paid parking service says that the parking spaces are too narrow.

«Our people are curious, they won't pay until someone approaches them. I drive up, I see «paid parking», but who is going to control it? Personally, I have a hard time with all these apps. The spaces are too narrow. I can't even open the door in my car. At least a few centimetres more could be made. A «good» designer drew the markings. In general, instead of 19 spaces, they could have made 18, and a person would have been able to open the door easily,« said driver Oleksandr.

Parking on Admiralska Street near the city council building, photo by NikVesti

Taxi driver Stanislav also said this. The man also believes that there are too few free parking spaces left in the city centre compared to the number of paid parking spaces.

«The parking spaces are too small, it's not convenient to open the door — you can «fit» into the next car. We had to make it a little more spacious. Now virtually the entire centre is in paid parking, and there are not many free parking spaces left,» says taxi driver Stanislav.

Nataliia, a driver, believes that drivers will not pay for this service because they do not understand where the money will be spent in the future.

«Let's be honest. Who among our people will pay for this? Who is going to do it? If a specific person comes and says «pay me, please», then yes. In fact, if you hadn't drawn my attention to the fact that there is paid parking here, I wouldn't have noticed. Because I saw the letter «P» and parked. Otherwise, I haven't seen any paid parking in the city at all. But people are so angry that they won't pay for this service. Where will the money go?» she says.

Another driver, Nataliia, believes that it is civilised to set up paid parking in the city — «it is civilised».

«We just have a habit of parking wherever I want and for as long as I want, and that everything is on a layer. And there will be no permanent parking for nothing, either,» the woman says.

Markings on the paid car park on Admiralska Street near the city council building, photo by NikVesti

Parking inspectors issued fines worth 4.6 million hryvnias

A special inspectorate, which operates under the transport department of the city council, monitors compliance with parking rules in the city. Its official name is the Department of Traffic Safety and Parking. Currently, there are 7 inspectors working there, and another position is vacant, the transport department told NikVesti. The salary of an inspector is 12-14 thousand hryvnias per month.

The inspectorate began its work in July 2024. This means that the city budget has spent a little over 1 million hryvnias on inspectors' salaries since then. At the same time, they have issued fines for improper parking for more than four times this amount.

In total, during the year of work, the inspectors issued 8857 fines totalling 4.6 million hryvnias. Of this amount, drivers paid 3.2 million in fines. The Transport Department clarified that if a fine is not paid within 30 days of its imposition, its amount is doubled.

«Then the resolution is sent to the territorial divisions of the State Executive Service of Ukraine, where the procedure for collecting the double amount of the fine begins,» the transport department explained.

An example of a fine received by drivers for improper parking in Mykolaiv, photo courtesy of «NikVesti»

An example of a fine received by drivers for improper parking in Mykolaiv, photo courtesy of «NikVesti»

An example of a fine received by drivers for improper parking in Mykolaiv, photo courtesy of «NikVesti»

Inspectors also have the authority to tow cars that are parked improperly, but they cannot do so at the moment because they do not have tow trucks, says Oleh Kuksa, deputy head of the city's transport department.

«The location of the car storage area and the operator who will carry out this activity have not been determined,» he added.

Paid parking at the intersection of Spaska and Soborna streets in the centre of Mykolaiv, photo: NikVesti

Despite the launch of paid parking in the centre of Mykolaiv, residents do not fully understand why it is being introduced. The city lacks open communication about the purpose of introducing paid parking, as well as explanations of what the money will be spent on.

It is also not entirely clear what specific problem these platforms are supposed to solve in the city. Currently, it is only explained as «traffic management», without any data or analysis.

Multi-level or underground car parks, which are used in other large cities, could help relieve the city of vehicles. This solution would balance the number of paid and free parking spaces and reduce the load on city roads. However, this idea requires time and money.

Yuliia Boichenko, NikVesti