Mykolaiv will allocate ₴100 thousand to the region for the renovation project of Maternity Hospital №3, where they plan to establish a perinatal centre
- Julia LukyanenkoReporter
Mykolaiv will transfer a grant to the region for the perinatal centre refurbishment project. Photo: Mykolaiv Regional State AdministrationMykolaiv has drawn up a project for the refurbishment of Maternity Hospital №3. However, as the city has transferred the medical facility to the region, it is now unable to pay the contractor. It therefore plans to transfer a grant of around 100,000 hryvnias to the region to settle the bill for the work carried out.
This was discussed during a staff meeting of the Mykolaiv City Council’s executive committee on 7 September, according to NikVesti.
Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych reported that the city had drawn up a project for the renovation of Maternity Hospital №3 in Mykolaiv. The city has transferred it to the region.
«The organisation that carried out the design work has completed its tasks. We had budgeted for the funds, but as we have transferred this project to the region, we can no longer pay them for the work carried out,» the mayor explained.
The renovation project for the perinatal centre, presented in 2024. Photo: Mykolaiv City CouncilTherefore, the city council sees only one way to settle the payment: to transfer a grant to the region. The mayor instructed Vira Sviatelyk, director of the finance department at Mykolaiv City Council, to prepare a draft resolution on the transfer of the grant for the September council session.
«How much is it, 100-odd thousand? We need to settle up with them: the work has been done, and the project is very good,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.
He added that the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration plans to establish a regional perinatal centre.
«Mykolaiv is perhaps the only regional centre that does not have a perinatal centre. That is why the idea behind the transfer of this facility was precisely to create a regional perinatal centre based at the third maternity hospital. The refurbishment we’ve planned there and the project itself are specifically designed to achieve just that,» said the mayor.
Maternity Hospital No. 3, which Mykolaiv has transferred to the region. Photo: Mykolaiv Regional State Administration
Maternity Hospital No. 3, which Mykolaiv has transferred to the region. Photo: Mykolaiv Regional State AdministrationAccording to him, there were plans to establish a municipal perinatal centre, but this did not materialise.
«Unfortunately, the current terms of our working relationship with the National Health Service do not allow us to do this. In other words, the number of births does not allow us to secure the necessary funding to maintain this facility. It can only become part of the regional clinical hospital,» added Oleksandr Sienkevych.
The city’s plans for a perinatal centre
In May 2023, the head of the city’s health department, Iryna Shamrai, assured that the city was making steady progress towards establishing a perinatal centre. Funds had already been allocated from the budget to carry out the initial work.
In December 2023, the city health department reported that work was continuing in Mykolaiv to create a single perinatal centre. From 2024, the plan was to fit out a room and install equipment there to carry out mammography screenings for women.
The Programme for the Economic and Social Development of the Mykolaiv Region for 2024, adopted at a session of the regional council on 14 December 2023, provided for the creation of a perinatal centre at Maternity Hospital №3 at a cost of 148 million hryvnias. The work was scheduled for 2024–2027.
In September 2024, the winners of the competition for the best design to convert Maternity Hospital №3 into a perinatal centre were announced in Mykolaiv. First place went to a company from Kyiv, which had developed the project in collaboration with the Norwegian charity «Arkitekter Uten Grenser».
Handover of Maternity Hospital №3 to the region
It should be recalled that in 2025, medical staff at Maternity Hospital №3 and the Mykolaiv Regional Emergency Medical Service went several months without receiving their salaries. The delay in paying the medical staff’s salaries was attributed to the fact that the contract with the National Health Service of Ukraine was signed later than planned. The debts were settled in March 2025.
In January 2026, it emerged that Maternity Hospital №3 was not receiving sufficient funding from the National Health Service of Ukraine due to the critical demographic situation in the city. The facility required additional funding from the city budget.
Subsequently, councillors of the Mykolaiv City Council supported a decision to reorganise the city’s healthcare network, which involved the creation of a cluster hospital and the transfer of one of the maternity hospitals to the ownership of the region.
On 9 April, at a session of the Mykolaiv City Council, councillors approved the transfer of Maternity Hospital №3 to the region’s ownership. The Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stated that integrating the maternity hospital into the regional hospital was necessary to retain the staff.
On 16 April, councillors of the Mykolaiv Regional Council approved its transfer to regional ownership. On 28 May, the Mykolaiv Regional Council approved the act of accepting Maternity Hospital №3 into the region’s ownership as an integral property complex. The councillors reduced the hospital’s authorised capital to 1,000 hryvnias.
In June, it was reported at the regional council’s environmental committee meetings that the maternity hospital had debts. A figure of 4 million hryvnias was initially cited.
On 18 June, the Mykolaiv Regional Council voted to merge Maternity Hospital №3 with the regional clinical hospital. In addition, the councillors increased its authorised capital to 5.5 million hryvnias.
The Mykolaiv Regional Council must now complete the reorganisation of Maternity Hospital №3. To this end, at the next session, councillors must transfer the hospital’s assets to the Regional Clinical Hospital and make the necessary amendments to its articles of association. There are plans to establish a branch called the «Perinatal Centre» on the premises of the maternity hospital.
This material was produced within the REACH – Media Partnerships for Accountability and Trust project, implemented by International Media Support (IMS) and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The content reflects the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Danish government. Denmark’s support strengthens civil society and independent media in Ukraine, including in Mykolaiv.