City Council Members support development of second project for reconstruction of lyceum №51 in Mykolaiv

Deputies gathered for a session of the Mykolaiv City Council. Photo: NikVesti

Deputies of the Mykolaiv City Council supported amendments to the Programme of Economic and Social Development of Mykolaiv for 2024-2026, which relate to two investment projects, including the reconstruction of Mykolaiv Lyceum №51.

This became known during a meeting on Thursday, 27 November, according to NikVesti.

It is about adding two objects to the list of investment projects: the restoration of a residential building at 4 Spaska Street, which is the responsibility of the Department of Housing and Communal Services, and the reconstruction of Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 51 on Parusnyi Lane, which will be handled by the Mykolaiv Capital Construction Department.

During the consideration of the issue, Serhii Kantor, a councillor from «Nash Krai», noted that the reconstruction of the destroyed lyceum is now being discussed, but earlier the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, assured that the building would be rebuilt from scratch.

Serhii Kantor at the city council session. Photo :NikVesti

To this, the mayor replied that some plans sometimes «can come true, and sometimes not». He recalled that an architectural competition was held to design the new lyceum and the winner was chosen. After that, a contract was signed to develop design and estimate documentation. In addition, there were preliminary agreements with the former head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Recovery and Development Mustafa Naiiem, and the project was to be implemented with public funds.

«The company started developing the project. Today it is at the final stage. They are submitting it for examination. But they have already violated the deadlines, and the cost of the sanctions is about half a million hryvnias,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Sienkevych also noted that he had been approached by councillor Ihor Kopytin, who said that he should not expect such funds from the state, and, in his opinion, there should be an alternative option for restoring the destroyed buildings.

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«I would like to remind you that this school was planned for major repairs before the war, because the walls were deformed, cracks appeared and so on. We decided to include this project in the social and economic development programme and allocate funds for an alternative reconstruction project. We will add only a part of the missing funds from the penalties from the main project. In this way, we will be able to save money and have a second project to propose its inclusion in the state budget or other sources of funding. But the figure will not be a billion, but about 400 million. Therefore, this proposal of the Council member was received positively and submitted to the session», he said.

He added that it was decided to spend the funds from the penalties on the development of an alternative project.

«For the money we saved on the fact that the designer delayed the implementation of this project, we plan to launch an alternative reconstruction facility», the mayor added.

Serhii Kantor noted that if new construction was abandoned in favour of reconstruction, it is necessary to decide which school should receive the funds.

«We have to look at all gymnasiums and determine whether school №51 is a priority using our own funds. But we need to visit all the schools, see the situation, how many children are studying. You said that there is a lack of funds, so let's be careful about it», said Serhii Kantor.

Fedir Panchenko and Olena Kiseliova at the city council session. Photo: NikVesti

In turn, Fedir Panchenko, a councillor from the «Proposal» party, agreed with the mayor. According to him, all the nuances were discussed at the parental meeting, and the reconstruction option is worth a try. He added that now «has the opportunity to knock on all the doors of» and offer options, and the project that will be supported by the state or donors will have to be implemented.

Yevhen Masiuta, principal of Lyceum №51, also joined the discussion. He noted that both parents and children are waiting for the educational process to resume.

«I hope for your support and understanding», the head of the institution addressed the City Council members.

Tetiana Dombrovska at the city council session. Photo: NikVesti

Tetiana Dombrovska, a councillor from the «Servant of the People» party, noted that it is unclear how the priority of schools is determined. After all, some parents are sent «empty-handed», and the city spends money first on one project and then on another.

«But the question is: who will be punished for these wrong decisions and the wasted 3 million hryvnias?» she said.

In his turn, Fedir Panchenko believes that both projects are not useless.

«As for the futility of developing one of the projects. They are both not useless. It's not one instead of the other. We will try to go both ways at the same time. The school will either be rebuilt or reconstructed. In this case, one of the projects will simply not be needed,» said Panchenko.

The discussion was concluded by Olena Kiseliova, who noted that the session did not follow the rules of procedure and was off-topic.

The mayor put the draft decision to a vote, and it was supported by 29 deputies, with 1 abstention.

Earlier it was reported that Mykolaiv wants to develop another project for Lyceum №51, which was destroyed by shelling, this time for its reconstruction. Prior to that, the city authorities had already ordered a project for the new construction of a «golden» lyceum for 6.3 million hryvnias, according to which it would cost more than 1 billion hryvnias to build a school from scratch.

Mykolaiv Lyceum №51

As you know, it will cost 1 billion hryvnias to build a new lyceum, according to Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych. 6.3 million hryvnias was allocated from the city budget to order a new construction project.

The mayor also said that international donors would not provide such funds, and that the local and state budgets did not have them.

Although the mayor announced the preliminary cost of the lyceum construction, there is no ready-made project. It was supposed to be developed a year ago — by the summer of 2024. However, the development period was delayed — the contractor promised to complete it by the end of March 2025, but again failed to do so.

Books under the rubble in Mykolaiv Lyceum #51, August 2025, photo: NikVesti

Ihor Kopytin spoke out against the idea of building a new lyceum. He believes that it is necessary to rebuild the destroyed building, as it will cost about 30 million hryvnias.

At the same time, Oleksii Savchuk, head of the capital construction department of the Mykolaiv City Council, said that the city would «take measures» to build a new lyceum №51.

Read the NikVesti article «This is our home». How does the destroyed lyceum 51 teach students and is it worth waiting for its reconstruction?»№

The construction of Lyceum №51 in Mykolaiv was previously included in the list of five facilities in Mykolaiv Oblast, for the restoration of which 667.9 million hryvnias was allocated from the state budget in 2023. The building of this educational institution was hit by a Russian missile in July 2022.

Initially, the head of the city council's education department, Hanna Lychko, said that school No. 51 was of great importance to Mykolaiv, so it would be rebuilt. However, the technical council at the city council's capital construction department concluded that the building of Lyceum №51 should be demolished. After that, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that a new, modern institution with shelters for children would be built in its place.

Mykolaiv Vice Mayor Anatolii Petrov told NikVesti that the construction project for Lyceum №51 would be developed by the summer of 2024. Later he said that they want to build three buildings for primary, secondary and senior education.

In March 2024, the Capital Construction Department of the City Council signed a contract for the development of a lyceum construction project for 6.3 million hryvnias.

After the project was developed, it was reported that the construction of the school would be carried out by the Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service in Mykolaiv region.