«There was no urgent need»: Sienkevych on why the culvert in Soliany had not been repaired for 10 years

The emergency culvert in the Solyani microdistrict of Mykolaiv, which left more than 40,000 residents without water, was not repaired due to a lack of funds and the absence of «extreme need».

This was stated by Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych in a comment to NikVesti during his report on his activities for 2025.

As is known, back in 2017, the executive committee of the city council approved Mykolaivvodokanal's plans to repair the culvert across the Inhul River. At that time, it was reported that the culvert was operating at full capacity and that if it failed, Soliany could be left without water supply. However, the work was not started at that time.

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According to the mayor, the project to reconstruct the culvert across the Inhul River was developed and passed expert review. Its cost was estimated at approximately 50 million hryvnias. However, no funds for the project's implementation could be found in either the state or city budgets.

«The project has been developed and reviewed, but we have not yet been able to find 50 million in funding. We developed this project at the regional level, and the region took on this project as part of the restoration of main pipelines, but they could not find the money for it in the state budget, so we took back this city restoration project and transferred it to the DRC. We are continuing this work. It has been going on for the last two years. We have reached the point where this project has been taken up by the DRC for consideration, in order to lay a new pipe, and we are now in the process of doing so,» he said.

Emergency work is currently underway in the city to rehabilitate the old pipe, which is located at a depth of about 10 metres under a layer of silt. The complete reconstruction of the new culvert across the Inhul River is estimated to cost almost 47 million hryvnias.

The mayor also explained that the situation with the culvert was not previously considered extreme. According to him, repairs were planned for 2022, but after the start of full-scale war, more critical water supply problems arose in the city, to which the main funds were directed.

«Why wasn't the possibility of financing from the city budget considered?» asked journalist Kateryna Sereda.

«Because 50 million is a lot of money, especially now,» replied Oleksandr Sienkevych.

«For three microdistricts?» asked journalist Kateryna Sereda.

«Let's just say that there was no extreme need, but we considered the possibility of financing from other sources,» replied Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Oleksandr Sienkevych added that the current accident has revealed the real risks associated with the condition of the culvert, and now the city is more actively seeking funding, including with the participation of international partners.

«Why do you say that there was no need, since back in 2017 there was talk of the critical condition of this culvert and, as I understand it, the second pipe had not been functioning for a long time?» asked journalist Kateryna Sereda.

«That's right. The thing is, we planned to repair it back in 2022, and the project was still being developed. But with the start of the war and the beginning of our problems with water supply in the city, we found ourselves with more weak spots. That's why we directed funds there. Now, in fact, we have shown you that this is not just a development project, but this cooperation has opened the eyes of everyone involved in the process that this is not just the mayor's desire to renovate some pipes, but that this is a really serious problem. We were, so to speak, looking for funds, and now we hope that this assistance will be expedited,» replied Oleksandr Sienkevych.

As a reminder, on 11 January, water supply was cut off in the Soliany, Pivnichnyi and Ternivka neighbourhoods of Mykolaiv due to an accident on the water pipeline.

Later, Mykolaivvodokanal clarified that the culvert's service life had already expired, so this is not a simple repair job.