Residents of Mykolaiv owe the water utility ₴258 million

A woman collects water from a trolleybus serving as a water distribution point, May 2025. Photo by ‘NikVesti’

As of 1 May, consumers owed the municipal utility «Mykolaivvodokanal» almost 258 million hryvnias.

This was stated by the director of the utility company «Mykolaivvodokanal», Hennadii Iziumov, during the programme «Dialogue» on the MART TV channel, according to NikVesti.

«Accounts receivable as of 1 May stood at almost 258 million hryvnias. This is also linked, among other things, to the war, the absence of people who have left, and the lack of payments.

We are working with the public and drawing up restructuring agreements. We cannot cut off the water supply by law, so we are focusing more on explanatory work,» said Hennadii Iziumov.

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As a reminder, the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivvodokanal» has officially appealed to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption requesting an unscheduled audit.

Scandal at Vodokanal

As a reminder, employees of the «Mykolaivvodokanal» municipal enterprise had previously spoken out against the company’s new management and the Supervisory Board. They accused them of unprofessionalism and claimed that the company was allegedly being prepared for privatisation.

In response, the Supervisory Board, together with Director Hennadii Iziumov, stated that the water utility was in a critical financial state due to a prolonged governance crisis, ineffective management and systemic operational problems.

During a meeting between staff and the new CEO on 15 April, the dismissal of Technical Director Vasyl Telpis was also discussed. An audio recording of the conversation is in the possession of the editorial team at NikVesti. Employees noted that the dismissal came as a surprise to them, as Telpis had worked at the company since the 1980s and had been acting as head following the death of Borys Dudenko.

At this meeting, Hennadii Iziumov stated that he had not made the decision to dismiss Telpis and claimed that it had been taken by the Supervisory Board. However, the Supervisory Board denied having made such a decision.

In a comment to NikVesti, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych described the claims about alleged preparations for privatisation as manipulation and an attempt to discredit the company’s new head.

Furthermore, on 11 May, during a staff meeting, the mayor criticised the work of the water utility’s employees, citing poor-quality repairs, repeated digging up of streets and a failure to maintain the area after work was completed.

Gennadiy Izyumov also stated that, following the conflict, there have been no mass redundancies at the company; instead, the restructuring of the organisation and the reduction of posts with overlapping functions are ongoing. According to him, employees affected by the redundancies are being offered other vacancies.