Councillors in Mykolaiv have reallocated ₴783 million in the budget: part of the money will be placed in a reserve fund for the winter
- Alina KvitkoReporter
Mykolaiv has received an additional ₴357 million — part of the money will be allocated to the reserve fund for the winter. Photo: ‘NikVesti’ archiveMembers of the Mykolaiv City Council have approved amendments to the local authority’s budget for 2026. Budget revenue and expenditure have been increased by 783.1 million hryvnias, with part of the additional funds to be channelled into the reserve fund ahead of the autumn and winter period.
The decision was adopted during a session of the Mykolaiv City Council on 1 September, according to NikVesti.
According to Vira Sviatelyk, Director of the Finance Department, following the amendments, the local authority’s budget revenue will amount to 7 billion 477 million hryvnias, whilst expenditure will total 7 billion 792 million hryvnias.
The additional 783 million hryvnias comprise:
- 357.66 million hryvnias – surplus from the general fund of the budget;
- 17 million hryvnias — proceeds from the sale and lease of property, to be channelled into the defence forces support programme;
- 1.6 million hryvnias – the balance of funds for youth lending;
- 408.4 million hryvnias — inter-budgetary transfers from the state and regional budgets.
«This resolution proposes to increase revenue and expenditure by 783 million hryvnias. These funds comprise the general budget surplus, proceeds from the sale of property, the balance from youth lending schemes, and inter-budgetary transfers received during the intersessional period,» explained Vira Sviatelyk, Director of the Finance Department.
Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych explained that as early as the beginning of August, the city was short of 44 million hryvnias to provide the necessary co-financing for state funds.
According to him, at that time, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, requested that large taxpayers who had previously re-registered in the Mykolaiv region pay their taxes in advance.
«They (businesses, — note) paid dividends early and paid taxes on those dividends to the regional and local budgets, a portion of which we received into the local budget. That is how the budget target was exceeded,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.
According to him, the funds received will be allocated primarily to priority budget items — salaries and utility bills.
Some of the funds will also be channelled into the reserve fund so that the city can use them in the event of unforeseen circumstances during the autumn-winter period of 2026–2027.
Vitalii Kim, Head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, also thanked the councillors for supporting the decision and the taxpayers, thanks to whom the region and Mykolaiv received additional revenue.
«These are truly difficult times, and thanks to taxpayers, both the region and the city of Mykolaiv are receiving assistance. I therefore urge you to use the money wisely this year,» said Vitalii Kim.
It should be noted that the revenue side of Mykolaiv’s general fund budget for the first seven months of 2026 was fulfilled at 110.6 per cent, meaning it exceeded the target by 10.6 per cent — the city received 357 million hryvnias more than expected.
The budget shortfall in Mykolaiv
The city authorities have been discussing the issue of the budget deficit since the start of the year.
Back in January, Mykolaiv’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stated the need to secure approximately 1.1 billion hryvnias from the state budget. In May, the city council again appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers for an additional grant — this time for 1.18 billion hryvnias.
Oleksandr Sienkevych explained at the time that the repeat request was linked, in particular, to the lack of a response from the Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet of Ministers.
«We reached this decision as a result of the lack of feedback from the Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet of Ministers. It was also due to changes in the composition of the Cabinet of Ministers and the appointment of a new Prime Minister. We are raising this matter again regarding a situation that has not changed in any way since December 2025, when we were drawing up the budget with you. We are appealing to them once more and, as they say, we now have more representatives from the Mykolaiv region in this Government. We very much hope that they will help us secure this grant — if not in full, then at least in part. However, it would be desirable for all matters relating to the grant to be funded,» said the mayor.
As early as August 2026, Deputy Prime, Vsevolod Chentsov, in charge of Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration, instructed the Ministry of Finance and a number of other departments to consider the Mykolaiv City Council’s request for an additional grant from the state budget and to submit proposals. The city is requesting 1.18 billion hryvnias to cover priority expenditure in 2026.
Meanwhile, on 6 August, the Mykolaiv City Council allocated nearly 45 million hryvnias to co-finance the installation of modular boiler houses. These funds became available thanks to the budget’s revenue exceeding the target for January–July. According to the Department of Finance, revenue performance over the seven months stood at 110.6 per cent.
However, these 44.95 million hryvnias do not resolve the overall deficit problem. The money will be allocated as a 10 per cent co-funding contribution to the state programme for the installation of modular boiler houses in Mykolaiv. The total cost of the project is around 450 million hryvnias, of which around 400 million is to be provided by the state. The boiler houses are intended to serve as a backup heat source in the event of disruptions to the centralised heat supply.