«I don`t give a shit about these telegram channels»: how the session of the Mykolaiv City Council was held on 28 August

On Thursday, 28 August, a regular plenary meeting of the Mykolaiv City Council was held. The agenda included 71 issues, 56 of which were related to land.

NikVesti watched the session and prepared a report with the key points of the meeting and details of the decisions made.

«56 files overnight»: why the city council postponed land issues

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The meeting began with deputy Maksym Kovalenko (faction «Proposal») being outraged that he had not had time to read the land issues, as the deputies had been provided with them only the evening before the meeting, and not a week in advance, as provided for by the city council regulations.

«Seven days ago, we received 13 issues for us to study and vote on today at the session. But we received the next 56 only last night (27 August, — note) at about seven o'clock in the evening. During this time, i.e. this morning, in two hours, and given the fact that there was a faction, I personally, as a deputy, was not able to study these issues. I understand that yesterday there was a meeting of the land commission, but in fact the agenda should be formed seven days before the session. Therefore, my proposal is to consider them at the next plenary session of the city council,» said Maksym Kovalenko.

In turn, Olena Kiseliova, head of the deputy commission on legality (faction «European Solidarity» ), was pleased that the city council decided to follow the rules of procedure at the end of her term and asked that this become a regular practice.

«It is very pleasant that now everyone is starting to care about the rules of procedure. I am glad that this happened at least at the end of our convocation. But I would like to point out that the current legislation also stipulates that land sessions should be held once a month. In our case, it will be a very interesting thing that we seem to be gathering for a land session, but leave land issues behind for the next month. But we have what we have, this is the way we work. Just a request for the future: if we adopt this rule that we never consider land issues again unless they are received by the deputies in advance, and we follow the rules of procedure, so that it is not a one-time thing during this session, but always for the future,» said Olena Kiseliova.

And for this purpose, she noted, the land commission should be held not the day before the plenary session, but a week in advance.

«If we are now arguing that this is the way we should always work, and not a formal exception, then this is, in principle, a normal working practice. But this requires a number of measures. I ask the council staff, the land commission, and all of us deputies to take this into account in our work. We agree that until the end of the convocation we will never consider land issues that come the night before the session. Or we will postpone the sessions if the need arises,» said Kiseliova.

To this, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych replied that he did not rule out the possibility of «certain issues being voted on by» in the future, but admitted that the 56 files that were handed over to the deputies on the evening before the session were wrong.

«Our regulations provide for putting draft decisions on the agenda by voice vote, and it often happens that it is necessary to do so. Here we are talking about the fact that Maksym Kovalenko says that there are 56 files.... As planned, we will send you the agenda a week in advance. If there are any corrections, 1-2 files that were not in time, as usual, we will send you updates to this agenda. We will also consider the files from the vote, and whether or not to include them in the agenda is up to the deputies. We usually have such a large number of draft resolutions, and these are only land issues. Let's just say that the land commission should finish its work a week before the session. If there are any individual projects, we will propose to include them by voice vote,» said Sienkevych.

In the end, the deputies decided to consider land issues at another plenary session, which is scheduled for 4 September.

Hello! I am Kateryna Sereda, the author of this article.

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The starting shot. MPs approve Sienkevych's reform

Sienkevych called the first changes in the structure of Mykolaiv City Hall the "starting gun shot", collage of archival photos NikVesti

Deputies of Mykolaiv City Council have approved an updated structure of the city hall's executive bodies developed by Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych in cooperation with the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative. As the mayor stated earlier, the decisions are only the «starting gun shot» — the first step towards a complete reform of Mykolaiv City Hall.

Earlier, we analysed the proposed draft decision, which envisages the liquidation of two departments: the anti-corruption department, which is to be merged with the executive committee, and the energy department, which is to be merged with the Capital Construction Department (CCD), and the creation of three new units: Internal Audit Service, Inspectorate for Improvement and Procurement Department, as well as massive renaming: for example, Housing and Utilities — «Municipal Economy», Department of Economy — «Strategic Development and Investment», Human Resources Department — «Personnel Department».

Draft updated structure of executive bodies of Mykolaiv city council, which was presented to the deputies on 7 August, screenshot of NikVesti online broadcast of the city council

«We are in a transitional period. And now these two decisions are actually the starting gun for us to change the structure... In fact, our work on the structure is finally the first giant step... We still have a lot of work to do. First of all, the regulations on executive bodies, which will define the responsibilities of each directorate, department and division. We are making these two decisions as the first big step in this regard,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych on 7 August during the presentation of draft decisions on the structure reform.

Andrii Yermolaiev opposed the reform of executive bodies of Mykolaiv City Hall, archive photo by NikVesti

At the session, the director of the anti-corruption department of Mykolaiv City Hall, a city council member from the «Proposal» party, Andrii Yermolaiev, who is currently serving in the Armed Forces, joined the discussion of the draft decision. He noted that this reform envisages the destruction of the department, and thus deprives its employees of their jobs.

«As a result of this project, the anti-corruption department, which I headed until I joined the Defence Forces, is being eliminated. Eight people from my department were drafted. The largest number of employees were drafted from the landscaping department. According to Article 19, those mobilised retain their jobs and positions. It turns out that this reform deprives them of their jobs. I urge the deputies not to deprive mobilised employees of their right to work and not to vote for this draft law. And if there is a need to reform the department, it should be clearly stated that mobilised employees will retain their positions under the law,» Andrii Yermolaeiv addressed the deputies.

In response, Andrii Volkov, the executive committee's chief of staff, said that the positions of the mobilised employees would be retained by the officials, and they would not be dismissed, as the updated structure provides for the presence of these personnel in it.

«In the second draft decision, we envisage a department as part of our executive bodies, but we currently envisage that the structural units that were responsible for reviewing tender procurement and corruption prevention should be part of the mayor's department. The structural unit that dealt with landscaping issues should be created as another executive body,» said Andrii Volkov.

Deputy Elena Kiseliova also responded to the deputy. She rebuked Andrii Yermolaiev for his remarks about his department and employees.

«The department is not yours. And the employees are not yours either. Serfdom was abolished long ago. That's why Volkov replied that the rights are not violated in any way during changes in the structure. And your department with powers it shouldn't have has the largest number of comments from reputable anti-corruption bodies. Therefore, changes should be made in accordance with the current legislation, so that your department does not have the functions it has had for 10 years,» said Olena Kiseliova.

As a result, 28 MPs voted in favour of the new structure of executive bodies. Representatives of «Proposals», Oleksandr Bereza and Volodymyr Topchyi abstained. And after the session, deputy Tetiana Dombrovska («Servant of the People») said 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». In her appeal to the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, she asked to correct the minutes and not to sign the decision.

Read more about the reform of the structure of executive bodies of Mykolaiv city council in our article

Artem Illiuk wants changes in the leadership of Mykolaiv districts, photo from the politician's press service

When discussing the decision on the structure, deputy Artem Illiuk (non-factional, elected from «OPFL») came up with an initiative to rotate the heads of district administrations of the city. He believes that this approach could increase the efficiency of their work.

Illiuk recalled that back in 2011 he proposed to eliminate district administrations as a structure, but this initiative was not implemented. Now he has proposed another option — to swap them.

«Every district head is a professional in his or her place. I am asking you to make a protocol instruction to rotate district heads among themselves. I think this will benefit the city and give an impetus to work. Because stress and crisis sometimes have positive effects,» said Artem Illiuk.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych replied that he was ready to consider the proposal, but that it should be implemented in the new year.

«As they say, you can survive a micro-stress,» said the mayor.

«Then we have an agreement from the new year?» Artem Illiuk clarified.

«Let's discuss it, we have an agreement,» replied Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Waste sorting. Deputies refused to sign the contract — a new tender will be held

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, noted that waste sorting is a strategic issue for the city, a screenshot from the broadcast of the session

Deputies of the Mykolaiv City Council unanimously voted to refuse to approve the waste sorting company «Waste to Energy Niko», which won the tender held three months ago. The decision was voted for by 29 members of the city council.

Two alternative draft resolutions were submitted to the session: one to approve the results of the tender and the other to reject them. Two out of 32 deputies voted in favour of the decision to approve the tender, while the rest either abstained or were against it.

It should be noted that the decision to approve the results of the tender was voted for by Anatolii Petrov, a deputy from «Proposals», and Oleksandr Rozumnyi, a representative of «Servant of the People». Both also voted for the alternative decision. This is evidenced by the results of the roll-call vote, which were obtained by the editorial office of NikVesti.

Discussing the upcoming repeat tender and its conditions, deputy Olena Kiseliova (faction «European Solidarity») proposed to include in the terms of the tender a 5-year moratorium on raising the tariff for garbage collection for the population. In response, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said that this service could not be free of charge, as it was a new component of the city's waste management process.

«Sorting is the emergence of a new process. Currently, waste is collected, taken to a landfill and buried. Now, a new business process is emerging between the time of transport and disposal. Some kind of building needs to be built where the waste will be brought in, sorted mechanically or manually, and people will work there and pay taxes. This is a big business process that has to be paid for by someone. It may be free for Mykolaiv residents, but it will have to be paid for from the budget. Is there enough money from the sorted waste to cover this? Because there is not a very large amount of plastic and other types of recyclable materials there now — up to 20%. In the future, it may be possible. Perhaps, when a law is passed on the use of fuel made from garbage, which can be burned and generate heat or electricity. Today, this is not yet possible. Therefore, someone will have to pay for it. I think it's wrong to pay for it from the budget,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The mayor believes that the announced figure of 17.4  hryvnias per person as a fee for waste sorting, which will be included in the monthly tariff for the population, is not enough money.

«Today, in my opinion, the figure that was announced — 17.4 hryvnias per person per month — is not enough money to avoid sorting this waste at home. It's less than 20 hryvnias, it's not much money. We will take the figures offered by the company as a basis to prepare the terms of the new tender more professionally,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

As you know, on 21 August, the Mykolaiv City Council building was searched. The next day, Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, said that the tender to select a company to build a sorting line in Mykolaiv was conducted improperly and its terms were unfavourable to the community. He also added that Mykolaiv needs to build a modern sorting line, but not on the terms that are currently being proposed for approval by the city council.

Earlier, in a commentary to NikVesti, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said that he supported the implementation of the project to build a sorting line in Mykolaiv, which the city has been working on for the past 5 years. However, it is up to the deputies to decide after a detailed study of the project.

Sienkevych's speech: 11 minutes about garbage, transparency, and «telegram dumps»

During the consideration of the issue of holding a new tender to determine the waste sorting operator, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych made an emotional speech. It lasted more than 11 minutes. Here is the mayor's speech in full:

«I want everyone to understand that we have been working on this project for more than four years. This issue is in our master plan. We discussed it with COWI, developed a feasibility study, conducted expert examinations, reviewed draft decisions in the Antimonopoly Committee, approved the terms of the tender, and held it twice.

No participants came to the first tender. We held it a second time under the same conditions. One participant appeared, and he was declared the winner. After that, we had to approve the contract. «It was then that a very serious information attack began: they started writing that a tender» had been sold to someone for 1.2 billion hryvnias.

Brainless telegram channels that copy information without checking it picked it up. Then millionaire channels joined in, repeating this nonsense four times a day.» Yesterday, they even threatened MPs, saying that some unknown activists were following you. Therefore, even those who write this are so far from the topic that they do not understand what we are talking about.

We are talking about the construction of an investment project: within 18 months, we will build a sorting line that will receive household waste, sort it, and dispose of the residues at a landfill. This should reduce the amount of waste that is landfilled.

Due to the nature and scale of this information attack, the prosecutor's office and the Office of Strategic Investigations became interested: they came to the city council, conducted searches, seized draft decisions (which, by the way, are available on the city council's website and can be downloaded) and the computer of a council employee who had prepared the draft decision. These are 5-6 pages of text. The tender documentation was in the housing and communal services department, which was ready to provide it. The whole process was transparent and public, and no decisions were made under the table.

This situation shows that with anonymous online resources and a little money, today you can turn anything into anything: white into black, black into white.

Once again, for anyone interested: there were no tenders for 1.2 billion hryvnias. This figure emerged after MP Fedir Panchenko counted the number of residents at a meeting of the budget committee, multiplied it by the amount of waste and «came up with the amount that would be paid for recycling over the 25 years of the contract.

Dear viewers, please do not succumb to this information garbage, have information hygiene. If you see that a telegram channel that has never written about Mykolaiv suddenly publishes «news» about our city five times a day, you should be alarmed. If «stars light up», it means that someone needs it.

We continue to work on waste sorting in Mykolaiv, as it is strategically important for the city's existence and the life of the landfill. We will hold a new tender with new, transparently approved conditions. We will have intersessional discussions, put the decision to a vote, and collect proposals. After that, everyone will witness the new tender. We will even find the money and advertise it so that everyone can take part.

The deputies asked us to involve Danish companies in the tender through the Danish Embassy, and we will do so as well. We want to hold the competition as transparently, openly and with a minimum number of violations as possible.

Mykolaiv is not a city where «telegram dumps» can disrupt investment competitions. We are learning and will be even more careful in our approach to any tenders. The investment attractiveness of the city cannot depend on anonymous Internet resources. I say this without emotion, although these ghouls are thinking now: «Yeah, we'll write everything about you». I don't care. As they say in Mykolaiv, «I don`t give a shit about these telegram channels», and in Kherson they say: «The bolt of the Petrovskyi plant».

We continued to work during the war. Despite the tonnes of mud that was thrown at me and the deputies, the city tries to make all processes as transparent as possible and eliminate corruption. Mykolaiv is the only city in Ukraine that openly states: we do not need other people's money, we need technical and programme assistance. Not a single penny from foreign partners has been transferred to the city budget, so there is nothing to «steal» here. Moreover, we have created a website where we report on all the technical assistance we have received.

Reducing corruption risks is task №1 in our cooperation with the European Anti-Corruption Initiative. We all understand that anyone can be tempted. That is why we are building a system where the one who benefits and the one who makes decisions are different people.

We are working on changing the structure and auditing procurement, which has already saved tens of millions of hryvnias for city enterprises and departments. Are there any dishonest people among your employees? There may be. But for this purpose, there are law enforcement agencies that find them and we learn about them from the media.

I am not a holy man, and everyone knows that if there is something wrong in the city, it is Sienkevych's fault. I am ready to take responsibility for that. But I'm not ready to take responsibility for something that didn't happen: no «billions in tenders», which are now being talked about.

No money was allocated from the city budget for these tenders or for the winning company. «The 1.25 billion hryvnias» is a fake, promoted by telegrams».

Sale of property: Mykolaiv has already received ₴62 million from auctions

The budget of Mykolaiv has already received 62 million hryvnias from the sale of municipal property.

This was reported by Tetiana Dmytrova, Deputy Head of the Communal Property Department of the City Council, during an online session.

«We have already held 31 auctions. We are to receive 81.4 million hryvnias from the auction. Compared to the starting price of these objects —15.2 million — the value of the property has increased 5 times. As for the funds received, we have already received 62 million hryvnias, including VAT. 19.5 million hryvnias was transferred to the budget in July and 49.5 million hryvnias in August. The process is ongoing. Four more auctions have been announced. Two more are on the way. The process of privatisation is actively underway,» said Tetiana Dmytrova.

The deputy head of the department answered a clarifying question from Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych about who wins the auctions: «To date, only 5 tenants have won the auction».

«This is the best indicator that we do not have any contractual arrangements. We will continue to do this transparently, publicly and with maximum benefit for the city. This is money from the development budget. Perhaps next year we will plan to use this money for defence. So far, we have not touched this money,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Read also the article NikVesti «Large-scale privatisation in Mykolaiv: what is behind the city authorities' plans to sell more than 100 objects and why this decision is worthy of attention».

As you know, the first auctions for the sale of municipal property were scheduled for 15 July — eight objects were put up for auction. Soon, one or two more lots may be added to this list if all the necessary documents are processed promptly, adds Tetiana Dmytrova.

As a reminder, in May, the City Council approved a list of 114 municipal property objects to be privatised. This list was approved at the second attempt. According to the draft decision, the proceeds from the sale are to be used to strengthen the defence capability of Mykolaiv and the region.

The already approved list includes:

• 46 municipal property objects that are not in use;
• 65 properties with tenants (they will be sold with the existing lease agreements in place);
• 2 objects with inherent improvements for which the tenants are to be compensated;
• 1 property under construction with a starting price of 2 million hryvnias.

During the meeting, the deputies also discussed other current issues, including traffic management and paid parking in the centre of Mykolaiv, and the restoration of the so-called «deputy» funds in the budget for the next year.

The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 4 September, with 56 land issues to be considered.

Kateryna Sereda, Alina Kvitko, NikVesti