The government has allocated ₴8.6 million for hot meals for primary school pupils in the Mykolaiv region

School meals for children, archive photo by NikVesti

The government has allocated 83.6 million hryvnias in grants to improve hot meals and catering for primary school pupils. Of this amount, 8.6 million hryvnias will be channelled to local authorities in the Mykolaiv region.

The allocation of funds was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, according to NikVesti.

The funds are being provided with financial support from the UN World Food Programme (WFP). They will cover part of the cost of one hot lunch for pupils in Years 1–4 — 15 hryvnias per child for each school day.

Mykolaiv received the largest share of funding among the region’s communities — 4.5 million hryvnias. Subsidies were also allocated to:

• the Pervomaisk community — 1.13 million hryvnias;
• the Voznesensk community — 712,800 hryvnias;
• the Veselynove community — 325,700 hryvnias;
• the Vradiivka community — 239,000 hryvnias;
• the Domanivka community — 207,3 thousand hryvnias.

Funding will also be provided to the Berezanka, Bereznehuvate, Arbuzynka, Prybuzhany, Myhiia, Kamianyi Mist, Blahodatne, Buzke, Mostove, Prybuzke, Volodymyrivka, Vilne Zaporizhzhia, Novomariivka, Sofiivka and Syniushyn Brid communities.

Allocation of the state budget grant for school meals, screenshot

Allocation of the state budget subvention for school meals, screenshot

The grant will be provided only to those educational establishments where teaching takes place in person or in a blended format, and where meals are organised in accordance with state requirements. If, after providing hot lunches for primary school pupils, there are any unused funds remaining, the communities will be able to allocate them towards meals for children at school-based camps.

In total, funding will be provided to local authorities in eight regions of Ukraine — Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv.

It was previously reported that there is a shortfall of almost 41 million hryvnias for school meals in Mykolaiv for the last four months of the year. The tender is due to be announced by the end of July. Meanwhile, over 80 million hryvnias are needed for meals in Mykolaiv’s nurseries by the end of 2026.

Budget shortfall

It should be recalled that at the session of the Mykolaiv City Council on 28 May, it was reported that by the end of 2026, the city is short of nearly 150 million hryvnias for school meals. Of this amount, over 109 million hryvnias is required for kindergartens, over 33 million hryvnias for co-funding school meals, and a further 7 million hryvnias for special schools and vocational education institutions.

At the time, city councillors appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada, requesting that additional funding be allocated to Mykolaiv from the state budget.

In June, the Executive Committee of the Mykolaiv City Council reallocated 864,500 hryvnias for meals in nurseries. At the time, the city council noted that these funds would only last until the end of the summer, after which the city council would seek additional funding. There is currently a shortfall of 60 million hryvnias required to finalise the contract for meals in nurseries.

At the end of June, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine refused Mykolaiv’s request for 150 million hryvnias to organise meals in educational institutions. The ministry explained that these expenditure items for nurseries and vocational education institutions should be funded from the local authority budget, and also highlighted the growth in the city’s budget revenue.

On 1 July, the Government allocated a grant of 187.5 million hryvnias to fund school meals for pupils in the Mykolaiv region between September and November 2026.

Earlier, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that Mykolaiv’s 2026 budget is a «survival budget» and does not cover all the community’s needs. According to him, the city lacks the funds to implement the state-initiated pay rise for teachers, pay for utilities, repair roads and cover other expenses.

Back at the start of the year, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych reported that the Ministry of Finance would analyse Mykolaiv’s financial situation to assess the city’s need for additional funding. At the same time, he emphasised that the final decision depends not only on the Ministry of Finance’s calculations but also on the political will of parliament.