Kim believes it is possible to make public transport free in Mykolaiv

Vitalii Kim, archive photo NikVesti

The head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, said that he had already discussed with the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, the possibility of making public transport in Mykolaiv free.

He said this in an interview with «Novosti.LIVE», according to NikVesti.

According to him, the maintenance of electric transport currently costs about 340 million hryvnias, and the introduction of free travel requires about 50 million hryvnias more.

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«I would double the budget needed for the frontline region. For example, Kharkiv can afford some things: they have free transport and money to look after the city. The mayor (Mykolaiv mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych, — note) and I discussed free transport. Well, it was difficult. We took it and did the maths, and it was subsidised. We wanted an electronic ticket in the process of implementation. It is difficult. The electric transport costs about 340 million hryvnias, I don't remember how much, «Mykolaivpastrans», but according to their preliminary calculations, another 50 million hryvnias should be added, and transport can be free,» he said.

He added that «it is not much, but not everything is clear-cut»:

«That is, it will be necessary to fire the conductors. Of course, they don't need to be fired, but there are many social issues that cannot be solved by saving money alone. That is why we are looking at this story. In order to have money, we need to develop the city's attractiveness».

What do you know about free transport in Mykolaiv?

Back in 2021, it was proposed to make public electric transport free in Mykolaiv. At the time, the head of the city council's budget committee, Fedir Panchenko, said that the city already allocates funds from the budget every year for the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivelectrotrans», and the company earns only about 10% of the need from ticket sales.

Recently, at a meeting of the city council on 31 October, Tetiana Dombrovska, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council from the party «Servant of the People», proposed to make public transport free for all city residents.

In his turn, Dmytro Teslenko, director of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivpastrans», commented on the initiative to introduce free travel in Mykolaiv public transport. He supports this idea, but only on condition that the company is reimbursed in full and in a timely manner from the city budget. He stressed that in the absence of financial guarantees, such an initiative could lead to disruption of flights, wear and tear on vehicles, debts and transport collapse.

As a reminder, free public transport in Kharkiv, which was introduced in May 2022, is planned to remain in place after the war ends.