₴4.3 million is set to be spent on food deliveries to schools in Mykolaiv

School meals, archive photo by NikVesti

The municipal catering enterprise responsible for organising school meals in Mykolaiv has announced a tender for the transport of prepared meals. It is planned to spend 4.3 million hryvnias on delivering meals to schools by the end of the year.

This is according to data from the Prozorro public procurement system, as reported by NikVesti.

The tender documentation specifies that this involves the delivery of pre-prepared meals in packaged form. In total, the enterprise is commissioning 748 transport services, and may deploy up to seven vehicles simultaneously on a single working day.

One such service comprises eight hours of vehicle operation. During this time, the vehicle must remain at the disposal of the municipal enterprise and transport meals across the city in accordance with its requests. The documentation does not set any restrictions on mileage within Mykolaiv.

Food is to be delivered to 97 educational institutions in Mykolaiv. The list includes the city’s grammar schools and lyceums.

Specific requirements have been set for the vehicles. They must be fitted out for the transport of foodstuffs and maintain the necessary temperature conditions. The carrier will use its own fuel, and drivers and food attendants must also carry out loading and unloading.

The cargo compartments of the vehicles must be clean, protect the food from dust, precipitation, foreign odours and other contaminants, and be suitable for regular washing and disinfection.

In addition, the carrier is required to provide documentation confirming the disinfection of the vehicles, and drivers must hold valid medical certificates and wear special clothing.

The successful tenderer must provide the services until 31 December 2026.

As a reminder, a tender was announced in Mykolaiv for the provision of school meals in 55 schools across the city, with an estimated value of 135.5 million hryvnias.

Earlier in June, the Education Department of Mykolaiv City Council announced a tender for the provision of meals at 44 of the city’s nurseries. The expected cost of the procurement was 69.1 million hryvnias, and the services were scheduled to be provided until the end of October.

At the time, the city council reported that there was a shortfall in funds for children’s meals until the end of the year. According to Deputy Mayor Vitalii Lukov, the money for the nurseries was found by making savings from the funds earmarked for school meals.

At the same time, the city council was counting on additional state support to ensure meals for children until the end of the year. According to the Education Department’s calculations, the city will need a further nearly 150 million hryvnias by the end of the year: over 109 million hryvnias for nurseries, over 33 million hryvnias for co-funding school meals, and a further 7 million hryvnias for special schools and vocational education institutions.