The City Council bears full responsibility for the fate of hundreds of oak trees that are set to be felled to make way for a petrol station, says Kopytin

The green space earmarked for development is mainly home to oak trees. Photo: NikVesti

Ukrainian people's deputy Ihor Kopytin has stated that the city council «bears full responsibility» for the fate of the oak trees that are set to be felled to make way for a petrol station at the junction of Bohoyavlenskyi Avenue and Kober Street in Mykolaiv.

The councillor wrote about this on his Telegram channel, attaching the response from the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture to the post.

«I have received responses to my enquiries regarding the situation surrounding the development of the green area on Kober Street in Mykolaiv. Positions were provided by the Ministry of Economy, the regional military administration and the relevant environmental services. As things stand, the trees remain protected by current conclusions and procedures.

A final decision on their fate will be taken by the city council at a session. It is the local authority that bears full responsibility for resolving this situation,» wrote Ihor Kopytin.

He also promised that he would continue to monitor this issue and, should any breaches of the law be identified, he would intervene.

«I am in contact with residents, so I am keeping abreast of developments. Should any breaches of the law or attempts to ignore the community’s views be identified, I will continue to intervene.

My position remains unchanged: on issues that directly affect people’s quality of life, the community must not simply be listened to, but genuinely taken into account when making decisions,» added Ihor Kopytin.

Construction of a petrol station in the Inhulskyi district

In November 2025, readers of NikVesti drew attention to markings on oak trees and expressed concern that the area might be cleared for the construction of a petrol station. Following this, environmentalists inspected the oak trees along Kober Street in Mykolaiv, near the «Zoria» factory. According to the inspectors’ findings, all the trees are in satisfactory condition, the markings were applied haphazardly, and there are no grounds for felling them.

Read the article by NikVesti «How, instead of going to court, did the city council hand over land for the construction of a petrol station in Mykolaiv?».

On 1 April 2026, it emerged that the company «Svit Zdoroviia» had, on its third attempt, passed the public consultation and received permission to build a petrol station complex with car service shops in the green belt near the «Zoria» factory in Mykolaiv, at the junction of Kober Street and Bohoiavlenskyi Avenue.

Following this, local residents held a meeting near the green space. On the same day, the State Environmental Inspectorate carried out an inspection of this green space.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, on the basis of which the company «Svit Zdoroviia» received approval for the construction of the petrol station, was signed by Vitalii Kindrativ, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture — in 2016–2017, he served as Deputy Head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration.

Prior to this, the Mykolaiv Department of Housing and Communal Services had identified inaccuracies in the environmental impact assessment report regarding the construction of a petrol station in the park near «Zoria». They suggested that the company either abandon the construction or relocate the facility to another site.

Several public hearings have been held in Mykolaiv regarding the construction of a petrol station in the park near «Zoria». One of them was organised by the Ministry of Economy, whilst the previous ones took place online on 2 July 2025. During these hearings, local residents assured that they were ready to defend the green space.