We are not ready, — Sienkevych explains why Mykolaiv does not receive «a single euro cent сoin» of direct aid from international partners

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych at the conference on the restoration of Ukraine in Rome, July 2025. Photo: NikVesti

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych has said that the city has not received any direct financial assistance from international partners, as anti-corruption reforms need to be implemented first.

As he said on the air of «Suspilne.Mykolaiv», this is his principled position.

Mayor Sienkevych said that during the full-scale war, Mykolaiv received 3.6 billion hryvnias in humanitarian technical assistance from foreign partners.

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«Over the past three years, Mykolaiv has received 3.6 billion hryvnias in humanitarian technical assistance. This includes equipment for hospitals, schools, utilities, transport, generators, plywood to board up windows, cleaning equipment, as well as various educational and social projects. Not a single penny, not a single cent, not a single euro cent has been given to Mykolaiv. This is my principled position,» said Oleksandr Senkevych.

At the same time, he said, the city is not yet ready to take responsibility for managing foreign funds.

«From the very beginning of the war, since 2022, we have not wanted to work with the money of our foreign partners. We are not ready yet. We want to carry out all possible anti-corruption reforms so that any mistakes or deliberate corruption actions do not affect the reputation of the city of Mykolaiv among our international partners. Therefore, they themselves choose the organisations that will do this work, they choose the enterprises and institutions that will implement these projects and control the quality of these works together with us,» added Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Earlier, in a commentary to NikVesti, Oleksandr Sienkevych said that in the fight against corruption in the city, he believes that the main thing is not personnel, but systemic changes that make it impossible for officials to abuse.

Recently, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych , summed up ten years of his work as mayor. In a post on social media, he named his key achievements and stated that he intends to continue working.

Among his achievements, the mayor mentioned the launch of trolleybuses to remote areas of the city, the launch of a dunker to the Varvarivka neighbourhood, the renovation of medical facilities, schools and kindergartens, as well as the development of lighting, cycling infrastructure and the renewal of municipal equipment. He added that many of the plans had to be put on hold due to the war.