The Mykolaiv City Council is making its third attempt to find a company to sort waste: the tender will take place on 31 August

The current municipal solid waste landfill near Mykolaiv. Photo: ‘NikVesti’ archive

In Mykolaiv, a tender has been announced for the third time to select a company to build and operate a household waste sorting complex. It will take place on 31 August at the City Council’s Department of Housing and Communal Services.

The tender announcement has been published on the Mykolaiv City Council website, according to NikVesti.

The winner of the tender must organise the operation of the household waste sorting complex, invest in the necessary equipment and set up the processing of sorted raw materials. Participants are also expected to provide their own concept for the facility’s operation or an investment programme, proven experience in implementing waste management projects, financial capacity and a plot of land on which to locate the sorting facilities.

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One of the competition criteria will be the speed at which the facility can be brought into operation. Proposals that envisage commissioning the facility in less than 10 months will receive the highest marks. The tender committee will also take into account the proportion of revenue that the company is prepared to allocate to the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivkomuntrans» for the maintenance of the city landfill, as well as the ability to provide the complex with its own power supply using renewable energy sources.

The situation regarding the construction of the sorting line in Mykolaiv

Mykolaiv had previously announced a similar tender on two occasions, but was unable to select an operator at the time.

In 2024, councillors approved the operating procedures for the solid waste sorting complex and announced an investment tender. The first tender did not take place, whilst the second was won by Waste To Energy Niko Ltd. However, the company received only the minimum required score, and councillors, along with the then head of the regional state administration, Vitalii Kim, criticised the lack of transparency in the procedure and the unfavourable terms.

Law enforcement agencies opened an investigation and carried out searches at the city council. At the session on 28 August, councillors did not support the approval of the contract with the winning bidder. Following this, the city authorities began preparing new terms for the tender. Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that the process would be public, involving international partners, notably from Denmark.

At the session, councillors were due to approve the updated operating procedures for the household waste sorting complex. However, the vote failed in March 2026. It was, however, approved a month later, in May.

Only one company submitted a bid for the repeat tender to select the company that would build and operate the waste sorting complex in Mykolaiv: LNK Recycling LLC, part of the Ukrainian-American LNK Group. The French company Veolia, which had previously expressed an interest in participating, did not submit a bid.

However, no winner was selected. The sole participant did not achieve the required number of points from the commission.

In general, the issue of waste sorting in Mykolaiv was first raised back in 2019, when the cost of two sorting lines was estimated at approximately 10 million hryvnias. At the time, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych insisted that the costs should be borne by investors, rather than the city budget. Although a waste management programme was adopted, it was never implemented.

The Supreme Court ruled that the city council’s inaction was unlawful and ordered the construction of a waste sorting line, as the landfill site, which has been in operation since 1972, has reached the end of its useful life.