«It's a blow to people's trust»: Mykolaiv mayor promises cooperation with investigation in street lighting corruption case
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- Alisa Melik-Adamian
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20:45, 09 April, 2025
Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych and Director of the Housing and Communal Services Department Dmytro Bezdolnyi. Screenshot from the videoMykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych commented on the information about the suspicion of the head of the department of the municipal enterprise «Self-supporting Construction Mechanisation Section» (SMSS) in the case of possible misappropriation of funds during the purchase of street lighting equipment.
In a post on his telegram channel, the mayor noted that the employees to whom law enforcement officers have questions would be suspended for the duration of the investigation.
Oleksandr Sienkevych also noted that the city is fully cooperating with the investigation and will provide all the necessary materials.
«At the moment, it is only a suspicion. Only the court can make the final decision. But even the mere appearance of such stories is a blow to people's trust and all our work. If the perpetrators are found guilty, they will be punished according to the law,» said the mayor.
The mayor reminded that the city authorities have been implementing new transparency standards for several years, including in cooperation with the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative. In addition to changing its approach to procurement, the city is stepping up price monitoring and reforming the work of other utilities.
As you know, an official of a Mykolaiv utility company and the company's director were notified of suspicion of misappropriation of budget funds. According to preliminary estimates, the local budget losses amount to about 600,000 hryvnias.
One of the suspects of corruption in the procurement of street lighting equipment in Mykolaiv turned out to be a relative of the head of the Department of Housing and Communal Services of the Mykolaiv City Council.
NikVesti asked the director of the Housing and Utilities Department, Dmytro Bezdolnyi , for a comment, where he confirmed that the suspect was indeed his relative.
It is worth recalling that recently, cracks in the granite tiles appeared on Soborna Square in Mykolaiv, which cost the city more than 100 million hryvnias to reconstruct five years ago. The journalists of NikVesti tried to find out whether the defects on the main square of Mykolaiv could be caused by man-made factors, climate or violations of the laying technology. The Department's press service told the reporter that due to the large number of meetings, the management, «unfortunately», could not comment on this issue.
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