Over ₴3 million has been reallocated from the education budget to prepare for winter in Pervomaisk

A session of the Pervomaisk City Council. Photo: Pervomaisk City Council

In Pervomaisk, city councillors have reallocated 3.3 million hryvnias from the education department’s budget to the municipal utility company «Zhytlo» to prepare for the upcoming heating season.

This decision was adopted on 5 May during the 94th session of the city council, according to NikVesti.

Under the decision, the education department’s expenditure was reduced by 3.3 million hryvnias. Of this amount, 2 million hryvnias had previously been earmarked for school meals. Instead, the funds will be directed to the «Zhytlo» municipal enterprise to settle electricity debts.

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Oksana Pastushok, a councillor from the «Servant of the People» party, opposed this decision. She described the reallocation of funds as irresponsible and stated that the responsibility for this decision would lie with the councillors who support it.

Meanwhile, Mykola Yurchenko, a councillor from the «European Solidarity» party, supported the reallocation. According to him, a similar practice was already applied last year, and the funds were subsequently returned to the education sector.

He explained that the main cause of the utility company’s financial problems was a significant rise in electricity tariffs.

«Why are we (councillors, — note) being blamed and told that we are making irresponsible decisions? And who made the irresponsible decision to raise the electricity tariff before the New Year? It was 9 hryvnias, and by the end of the heating season — 15.20 hryvnias. Is that on my shoulders too? That is not our responsibility. It is the responsibility of the times we are living in… That is why this debt situation has arisen. In any case, we couldn’t raise the heating tariff in the middle of winter. Now the season has ended and preparations for the new one have begun, and we need to clear these debts to get through the next heating season. And we will only clear them by reallocating the budget, because no one will give us any more money and it won’t fall from the sky,» the councillor noted.

Oleh Demchenko, Mayor of Pervomaisk. Photo: Pervomaisk City Council

Oleh Demchenko, Mayor of Pervomaisk, assured that they plan to return these funds to the education department as early as June.

He also recalled that the education department had previously been allocated 2.5 million hryvnias for the repair of the protective structure at School №2, but these funds were not used as the work will be financed by international partners.

«At present, no one is forcing them to return the funds to the budget, but the repairs will be carried out using international funding. And there is already a letter of guarantee stating when they are due to start the work,» the mayor said.

As a result, councillors approved the decision on amendments to the budget and the reallocation of funds.

It should be noted that Pervomaisk is preparing for a major refurbishment of the maternity hospital. The building is expected to be modernised under a project by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). However, the Pervomaisk City Council has not disclosed the cost of the project or the specific plans.

We would also like to remind you that the construction of a new water treatment plant in Pervomaisk is promised to be completed by spring 2026. The project is being implemented with financial support from the European Union and the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO).

In November 2025, the Pervomaisk City Council approved a decision to secure a grant from NEFCO. According to the document, the grant amounted to up to €3,485,000.