150 local deputies across Ukraine travelled abroad and spent ₴2.4 million — there were no business trips in Mykolaiv

No trips abroad: Mykolaiv deputies did not use business trips in 2025. Photo: archive NikVesti

More than 150 local council deputies went on foreign business trips in 2025. Local budgets allocated approximately 2.4 million hryvnias for these trips. At the same time, there are no documented business trips in Mykolaiv.

This data was published by the Chesno movement, which received responses to requests from city councils.

The Mykolaiv City Council noted that there is no record of deputies' foreign business trips. The Kharkiv City Council gave the same response. At the same time, the Odesa City Council reported that no deputies were sent on business trips abroad.

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For comparison, 36 deputies from the Lviv City Council travelled abroad, which is the highest number among all the councils analysed. More than 1.4 million hryvnias were allocated from the budget for these trips.

Eight deputies from the Sumy City Council went on business trips. The budget expenditure amounted to over 405,000 hryvnias. At the same time, four deputies travelled at their own expense or at the expense of the host party. At least two foreign trips were made to obtain humanitarian aid for Sumy. The average cost of a single budgeted business trip in Sumy is one of the highest in the country.

In the Kyiv City Council, eight deputies also went on business trips, but the total cost was 164,000 hryvnias — 2.5 times less than in Sumy.

Deputies' foreign business trips in 2025. Analysis by Chesno

Most deputies went on business trips to Ternopil, Rivne, and Uzhhorod, and the fewest to Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy, and Zhytomyr. Most of those sent on business trips were men. The most frequent destinations were Poland and Germany, and there were also trips to Georgia and the United States.

A special case is Roman Kravchuk, a deputy of the Lutsk City Council, who, according to journalists, visited the United States three times in one year. In response to a request for information about business trips in 2025, his name is missing, although he posted photos from his trips on social media and reported on a meeting with Senator Joe Wilson.

In some cities, no funds are allocated for deputies' business trips at all. For example, in Kropyvnytskyi, expenses must be covered either by the deputies themselves or by the inviting party.

As is well known, local council deputies can travel abroad on official business trips. This requires an official order to cross the border. These rules were established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. In 2025, the government allowed female city council deputies to travel abroad. However, this does not apply to those who work in local government in paid positions — separate restrictions apply to them. These rules were tightened after several scandals in which officials registered business trips but actually used them for personal travel.