Catering in Mykolaiv schools: porridge was cooked outside in the rain, and children were left without breakfast

Porridge for Mykolaiv schoolchildren was cooked outside in the rain, collage by NikVesti

On Monday, 8 December, a private company that received a catering contract from a municipal enterprise began to provide food to some of the city's schools. However, as reported to NikVesti by the children's parents, the children did not receive breakfast, and the food was delivered to some schools only in the afternoon.

NikVesti obtained footage of employees of the company «Prosecco 8» cooking porridge outside under a tent in the rain.

As you know, following a public outcry over the quality of school meals in Mykolaiv, the city hall decided to engage a private contractor. At the end of November, the municipal enterprise Municipal Production Enterprise for Catering in Educational Institutions (MPE-C) chose the company «Prosecco 8», which will deliver food to some of the city's schools during December. During the open tender «PROSSECCO 8» became the only participant and winner of the tender for catering services. The price of the services was 14 million 279 thousand 658 hryvnias.

The videos obtained by the editorial office yesterday morning show food being prepared outside under a tent in the rain.

«Food being prepared outside under an umbrella in the rain.... Porridge is being ground with a punch, poured with boiling water... It's ridiculous. All the schools are in full swing, go choose what to bring... Here comes the tender of the fashionable tavern... The MPE-C failed,» says a man in the voiceover.

Anatolii Petrov, deputy mayor of Mykolaiv, told NikVesti that the problems with food in schools were caused by a lack of staff at the enterprise.

«The situation was a little bit negative yesterday, the reason was personnel issues. I talked to Irina Anatolyevna (Irina Stoieva, owner of the company «Prosecco 8» — note) yesterday, and the situation is related to personnel, people either quit or left, something to do with it. The MPE-C sent them a warning and a complaint because they almost disrupted (the food supply — note). Today, the MPE-C has the situation under control. And today, the second day, everything is fine so far. As I understood it, several people said they would not go to work,» said Anatoliш Petrov.

Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv for Education Anatolii Petrov and Head of the Education Department Hanna Lychko, photo by NikVesti

In turn, the head of Mykolaiv's education department, Hanna Lychko, told NikVesti that the company «PROSECCO 8» will be paid for school meals only for the portions that children have received.

«Yesterday, due to a disruption in the supply of cooked food, the payment will be made only for the number of portions that the children were able to eat. Today, everything is fine. School leaders reported that the food smells and looks good, and the portions are normal,» said Hanna Lychko.

In August, Mykolaiv received 25.5 million hryvnias in state subventions for meals for pupils in grades 1-11, as well as 3.6 million hryvnias from the UN to improve the diet of younger pupils. Another 3.6 million hryvnias of subvention was received in September. In October, it became known that the Mykolaiv community would receive an additional 61.3 million hryvnias from the state to organise school meals.

«The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has decided that starting from 8 September, children will be fed at the expense of the state in schools where daytime education is provided. We are co-financing this process from the local budget,» explained Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych.

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Food in Mykolaiv schools

In Mykolaiv, after the problems with food were identified, they began to talk about the possibility of attracting subcontractors for catering in schools without kitchens. According to the mayor of the city, Oleksandr Sienkevych, the municipal production enterprise for catering in educational institutions cannot cope with the load.

Complaints about food in schools began to come from parents of students in September 2025. They posted on social media and talked about cold meals, undersized portions and dirty dishes.

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The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, responded to the parents' complaints by saying that a special commission would be set up in the city with representatives of the city council to monitor the situation. The authorities also reported that they were considering installing cameras in school canteens.

Following the incident, the Main Department of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Mykolaiv region checked the food served to children in 15 schools in the city. Experts analysed photo reports of the food served to students.

Petro Vasheniak, the director of the municipal enterprise responsible for catering, said that he had personally checked the situation and that the portions met the standards, while some of the dishes were simply not visible in the published photos.

The city authorities set up a commission with representatives of the city council, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, deputies and parents. Between 16 and 24 September, they inspected 13 schools and found violations: lack of hot running water, dishes with damaged enamel, lack of refrigerators and problems with food storage, as well as shortcomings in the organisation of the process and documentation.

After all the inspections and clarification of the situation, the city council announced the possibility of changing the school catering system to divide the organisation between different companies instead of leaving everything to one company.

Subsequently, the mayor's office decided to engage a private contractor to deliver meals to some of the city's schools for a month.

At the end of November, the municipal production enterprise for catering in Mykolaiv educational institutions selected a company that would subcontract catering and feed children in schools during December — the limited liability company «PROSSECCO 8», which was the only one to submit proposals for the tender.

The starting price for the procurement of services was 14 million 285 thousand 779 hryvnias, but the final price was reduced by 6 thousand 120 hryvnias to 14 million 279 thousand 658 hryvnias.

The subcontractor must comply with all conditions in the field of catering and sanitary and epidemiological legislation. According to the contract, the school management company purchases catering services for students until 31 December 2025.