In Mykolaiv, budget administrators were unable to identify any funds they could forgo

In Mykolaiv, budget administrators have not identified any funds they can forgo. Illustrative photo from the NikVesti archive

The Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, instructed the chief budget administrators to review their requirements by the end of the year and to forgo funding that they would not be able to use in time. However, none of the administrators declined the allocated resources.

This was reported by Vira Sviatelyk, Director of the Finance Department at Mykolaiv City Council, during a meeting of the budget committee on 27 October, according to NikVesti.

During the discussion of the report on the implementation of the local authority’s budget for January–June, committee members asked about the city’s current financial indicators and the possibility of receiving additional assistance from the state.

Vira Sviatelyk reported that, for January–September 2026, Mykolaiv’s budget revenue fell short by 66 million гривень, whilst expenditure was 82 per cent of the target.

Screenshot of the budget committee meeting broadcast

The committee chair, Fedir Panchenko («Propozytsia»), recalled the Cabinet of Ministers’ response regarding the possibility of additional financial assistance for the city. According to him, the government cited the budget surplus.

Vira Sviatelyk explained that the figures referred to the situation as at 1 August. She said that the city had already allocated the funds received from the budget surplus to urgent needs, but this had not resolved the problem of insufficient funding.

«An instruction was issued by the mayor. We gathered information regarding the reallocation of funds by the main budget administrators,» the official said.

She added that the heads of institutions and departments were asked to identify which funds they could forgo if they realised they would be unable to use them by the end of the year. At the same time, they were required to specify the minimum amount needed to operate throughout November and December.

«We asked them either to forgo certain resources if they realised they would not be able to fulfil certain obligations by the end of the year, or to specify the minimum expenditure they would need for the next two months until the end of the year.» There were no refusals, and the expenditure amounted to around 800 million,» noted Vira Sviatelyk.

It should be recalled that in early October, Mykolaiv made its third request to the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers for 819.1 million hryvnias to cover priority needs until the end of 2026.

The city needs the most funds for water supply and heating — 412.7 million hryvnias. A further 138.8 million hryvnias are required for salaries for employees of public sector organisations, 106.3 million for utility bills and energy costs, and 96.7 million for passenger transport by electric vehicles.

According to the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, the city reviewed its expenditure throughout the year, which enabled it to save around 481 million hryvnias. However, it was not possible to fully cover the community’s needs.

The financial situation was further affected by delays in budget payments by the Treasury. As of 12 October, according to city authorities, bills totalling over 370 million hryvnias remained unpaid. The delays concerned, in particular, payments for completed construction work and payments to municipal utilities.

See also the NikVesti article: «Money is running out, payments are being delayed. What’s happening with Mykolaiv’s budget?»