«A child was injured, it's dangerous there»: Mykolaiv residents complain about the condition of the pool in the sports complex «Zoria»

The state of the tiles in the pool of the sports complex «Zoria», photo provided by NikVesti visitors

At the sports complex «Zoria», a child was injured during a training session - the boy cut his hand on a broken tile in the pool. At the time, there was no nurse at the sports complex to provide first aid.

This incident was reported to NikVesti by Alina, a resident of Mykolaiv whose child was injured during training.

The woman said that her son was injured because of the poor condition of the pool. The woman added that the tiles had broken off and for a long time its sharp corners had been preventing children from swimming in the water, creating a dangerous situation during training.

«The administration of the sports complex «Zorya» does not respond to the coaches' requests to eliminate the deficiencies in the pool. It is very dangerous for children to swim there because the tiles are chipped. My child was injured during training today. He cut his hand, so he had to stop training and go to the hospital. Thank God, it wasn't too critical, but it's still an unpleasant situation,» the woman said.

The hand of a child who was injured during training in the pool of the sports complex «Zoria», photo provided NikVesti by visitors

The state of the tiles in the pool of the sports complex «Zoria», photo provided NikVesti by visitors

The woman was also outraged that during the incident there was no nurse at the sports complex who could have provided the injured child with qualified assistance. Instead, older children provided first aid to her son, as the coach could not leave other children in the water unattended for safety reasons.

«The child was injured, and there was no nurse. As it was explained to me, the nurse works a 5-hour day. My child was given first aid by older children while the coach was conducting the training process. He gave everything he needed to the older children, a plaster and everything else, and they helped him. Because the coach cannot leave the other children in the water, and there is no nurse,» says Alina.

The state of the tiles in the pool of the sports complex «Zoria», photo provided by visitors

The administration of the sports complex does not respond to the coach's requests to fix the deficiencies in the pool, the woman says.

«The coach asks the administration to fix all the deficiencies during the holidays, before the start of the active training season, but nothing has been done. Children can really get injured there. The administration does not respond to requests,» she added.

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The woman added that the pool also needs to replace rusty batteries and repair the falling ceiling.

«You can see in the video the condition of the battery. By the way, it doesn't work at all — it just spoils things with rust. All the parents are just tired of cleaning this rust off their backpacks and things. It's all just a nightmare. The ceiling is falling — it's also dangerous. It's just horrible,» the woman was outraged.

Rusty batteries in the swimming pool of the sports complex «Zoria», photo provided by visitors

Fake receipts in the pool «Zoria»

In the article «Renovated for ₴32 million Zoria swimming pool hides income and issues fake receipts», we described how the Mykolaiv city swimming pool gives citizens pre-printed cheques of other customers when they buy season tickets in cash. The date and time of payment, as well as other specific marks of fiscal receipts, do not match in these cheques, which may indicate uncontrolled cash circulation in the municipal institution.

What's wrong with cheques in a municipal swimming pool «Zoria». Image NikVesti

Then NikVesti contacted the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Mykolaiv region for a comment on the submission of incorrect cheques by companies that work with cash payments. The press service of the department added that a fiscal receipt must contain mandatory details, including the date, time and form of payment: «In the absence of at least one of the mandatory details in the document, such a document is not accepted as a payment document». When making cash payments, entrepreneurs must keep records of cash transactions in the national currency.

Mykolaiv deputies at a meeting of the Legislative Commission also proposed to ask the tax authorities to check compliance with cash discipline in the municipal swimming pool «Zoria».

What a receipt should look like when paying in cash. Illustration NikVesti

Later, it became known that the former head of the Central City Stadium, Volodymyr Kosse, which includes the sports complex «Zoria», resigned due to an internal audit that the city authorities decided to conduct after the NikVesti article about the issuance of fake receipts.

Instead, the city has started a search for a new director of the municipal enterprise «Central City Stadium». On 19 November, open interviews were held with candidates for the position of stadium director, and the mayor announced that a person had already been selected to hold this position. Currently, Viacheslav Misarenko is the head of the municipal institution «Central City Stadium».

Renovation of the sports complex «Zoria»

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In May 2023, the first swim in the renovated pool of the «Zoria» sports complex in Mykolaiv took place.

Before that, the pool was inspected by Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych. He said that the reconstruction of the sports complex is being carried out in two stages. The first stage involved the repair of the swimming pool bowl, locker rooms and other technical facilities that will ensure the operation of the pool. The second stage, which is still ongoing, involves repairing the gymnasium, locker rooms, building insulation and other works.

The process of transferring «Zoria» to the city's ownership began in August 2018. Two years later, in March 2020, the sports complex was transferred to the municipal ownership of Mykolaiv. At the same time, the state-owned enterprise «Ukroboronprom» compensated the city with 5 million hryvnias for the repair of «Zoria».

Renovated municipal swimming pool of the sports complex «Zoria», August 2024, photo NikVesti

After the transfer of the sports complex, Oleksandr Sienkevych promised to launch the pool «Zoria» in autumn 2020. However, the work was delayed. In the autumn of 2021, the Capital Construction Department of the City Council announced a tender for the overhaul and restoration of the «Zoria» sports complex with an expected cost of 94 million 915 thousand 520 hryvnias.

In December 2021, Vice Mayor Vitalii Lukov said that the reconstruction of the «Zoria» sports complex would be completed no earlier than the second half of 2022. Later, during the reconstruction of the swimming pool at the «Zoria» sports complex, 7 cracks were found in the facility's bowl.

Subsequently, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, announced the launch of the «Zoria» sports complex in February 2022. Due to the outbreak of a full-scale war, the completion of the work and the launch of the pool was postponed again.