Voznesensk councillors have appealed to the Ministry of Finance regarding the delay in budget payments

Budget payments in Voznesensk have been delayed for over a month, prompting councillors to appeal to the Ministry of Finance. Photo: NikVesti archive

In Voznesensk, Mykolaiv region, budget payments have been delayed for over a month. As a result, the city is unable to pay utility companies on time or spend funds received from international partners.

This was discussed on 16 October during a session of the Voznesensk City Council, according to NikVesti.

Valentyna Moskalenko, head of the city council’s finance department, explained that the Treasury is currently making payments only for the most essential needs — salaries, electricity, heating, food and medicines. Other payments are not being made at present.

«For over a month, the Treasury has suspended funding for other non-priority expenditure items. At present, the Treasury is only processing protected expenditure items — namely, salaries and related payments, energy supplies, food and medicines. All other expenditure items have been suspended,» said Valentyna Moskalenko.

According to her, the reason for the delays is a shortage of funds in the state budget. Ukraine has not yet received part of the financial aid from its international partners, so the available funds are being channelled first and foremost to the army, pensions and social benefits.

«The tranches have not been received. The state budget is not being implemented. Revenues entering the single treasury account of the state budget are being channelled first and foremost towards defence expenditure and social spending,» the official explained.

The city council fears that payment delays could lead to problems with the operation of municipal services. In particular, they may be unable to purchase fuel and essential materials on time. This could affect public transport, refuse collection and other municipal services.

Furthermore, Voznesensk is unable to use the funds it has already received from international partners. This concerns two projects — «Innokom», which is being implemented with the support of Interreg Europe, and the «Youth Career Centre» in partnership with UNICEF.

«Funds from international partners have already been transferred to the community’s relevant treasury accounts, but payments for these projects have been frozen,» the councillors’ statement reads.

As a result, the city is unable to carry out the planned work and fulfil its agreements with international organisations on time.

Councillors of the Voznesensk City Council have appealed to the Ministry of Finance to resolve the issue. They are asking for payments for international projects to be unblocked and for funding to be provided for the communities’ most urgent needs, so that municipal services can continue to operate.

NikVesti previously reported that the Mykolaiv Zoo had accumulated debts of around 2 million hryvnias due to payment delays by the Treasury. This has led to problems with paying for animal feed and utility bills.

Furthermore, due to funding delays, contractors are refusing to work with the «Safe City» system in Mykolaiv.