Kiseliova: Mykolaiv was offered to buy a historic building six months ago for ₴3.6 million, but deputies were not shown it

Updated at 20:20. The editors have made changes to the publication and in the headline the word «hidden» was corrected to «were not shown», as «hiding» should contain intent, which has not yet been established.

The proposal to use the priority right to buy the historic building of the tram substation on Soborna Street without an auction was submitted to Mykolaiv City Hall six months ago.

The owner offered to buy the building for ₴3.6 million, Olena Kiseliova, a deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council and head of the «European Solidarity» faction, told NikVesti.

The deputy is outraged that the officials did not even try to discuss this possibility with the deputies and did not inform them about the receipt of such a proposal at the plenary meetings of the session.

«I can unequivocally say for myself and 20 other deputies that there was no discussion of the feasibility or inexpediency of acquiring this facility during 2024. In other words, we did not discuss the moment when the owner announced his intention to sell the building for ₴3.6 million. According to verbal information from an official, I was told that a letter regarding the sale of this building was received by the city council in the summer of 2024,» she said.

Earlier, the assistant mayor of Mykolaiv and chairman of the budget committee, Fedir Panchenko, expressed doubts that such a building could cost 3.5 million hryvnias. But if this is true, he believes that such a proposal would be worth considering.

Officials did not inform the deputies about the letter from the bank

She also explained that, according to the law on the protection of cultural heritage, the owner was obliged to inform the community of his intention to sell the building and provide an expert report to consider the sale. However, this information was not communicated by officials to the deputies.

«Now we are discussing the situation after certain events have already taken place. We are talking about the fact that the cultural heritage monument and architectural landmark were put up for auction by the owners, who are Austrians. They are well aware of how to act within the current legislation. The owner of a building that is a cultural heritage site has a protection obligation. If he decides to sell the property, he must notify the local community of this intention, according to the law. He is obliged to provide an expert report, and this information becomes the basis for considering the sale. This is how the legal structure is created. When did the deputies learn about the sale? Only when the object was already at auction, after journalists wrote about it,» said Olena Kiseliova.

Olena Kiselyova also spoke about the problem of interaction between the executive bodies of the city council and the deputies, noting that in recent years the city authorities have begun to identify themselves with the deputies of the city council, which makes decision-making more difficult.

«Let's get back to what happened. The notice of sale of the property was sent to the city council. In recent years, from 2022 to 2025, the executive bodies have identified themselves with the city council, which creates a fatal structure. A letter is sent to the mayor or the city council, and that's it. The deputy corps of the city council knows nothing about it. Today, the structure of the work of city council members is reduced to one thing: legalising decisions made by executive authorities,» she says.

Does Mykolaiv's budget have money to buy the building?

During 2024, the city council voted several times for changes to the budget, but the mayor's subordinates never informed the public about the possibility of purchasing this building.

«During this time, many options could have been found to purchase the building. The main thing is that the question of the feasibility of this acquisition could have been brought up for public discussion. Because neither I, nor you, nor the executive bodies know for sure what is most important for the community today: buying drones, repairing the premises, building flower beds, mowing the grass or buying such a building. That's why I'm 100% sure that when this statement was made, the executive bodies could have at least informed the public, including through the media. We have a website where we publish information about our achievements and inform the public sufficiently, but for some reason, no information was provided about this facility. I know for a fact that in order to avoid further disputes, an open discussion should have been held. For example, if 3.6 million had been spent on this, someone could have said: «It would be better to spend this money on drones». And this option is also real. But I know that the budget for 2024 could have found these 3.6 million for any number of reasons: they would not have made a few flower beds or mowed the grass, or allocated extra funds for utilities. After all, three utility companies today absorb most of the budget of the city of Mykolaiv. Therefore, I believe that within this budget, 3.6 million could have been allocated for the purchase of this facility, which most or not all of the city's residents want to see in the ownership of the community. I think that there would be no problems with the approval of this decision by the deputies,» said Olena Kiseliova.

Can the city exercise the right of redemption without an auction?

The deputy explained that she had tried to find out whether it was possible to return to the issue of purchasing the building at the owner's price, but was told that this was no longer possible.

«I tried to find out whether the city could return to the issue of purchasing this building at the owner's price, but I was told that it was no longer possible. Since the owner had complied with the law and sent a timely notice, there was a certain period for consideration and decision-making. The decision was to be made at the session, and we could have said at the session: «Give us an extension». But in the end, the city council, represented by the executive bodies and the mayor, did not make any decision on whether we wanted to buy this property.»

She added that it is possible that a private owner will take care of this building and its condition will be even better than many other cultural heritage buildings that are in a state of disrepair on the balance sheet of local and regional authorities.

«In principle, a private owner could buy this building for this money, and it is likely that he will take care of it and its condition will be even better than many other cultural heritage buildings on the balance sheet of both local and regional authorities, but in a state of neglect. The building will remain in its place, as long as it is not damaged by thieves. It has been standing, it is standing, and I hope it will continue to stand. Therefore, we will not lose it as an element of architecture. However, for the city to have such a monument is a matter of status. It is like a collector's item of great value,» she said.

Possible future of the tram substation

Olena Kiseliova stressed that even if the city had purchased the building and then decided to sell it at auction, it could definitely get the money back. This would be economically feasible, as the amount spent on the purchase would not be large, and the subsequent sale could cover the costs.

«The most interesting thing, of course, is to find out who will buy this building. But I emphasise once again: in 2024, if citizens had expressed a desire to keep it in the city, the funds would have been found and the decision would have been made. I am sure that none of the deputies would have objected to the allocation of ₴3.6 million, because this is really a very small amount for such an object. And even if the city bought it, kept it, and later decided to sell it at an auction, it could get this money back. It is economically feasible. Let's model the situation: the facility costs about $90,000. This is a minimal amount for the budget of the city of Mykolaiv. The city keeps it, the deputies decide that it is important, and we invest $90,000. Then, without even doing anything to the building, we can lease it or sell it at auction. I am sure that in 50 years, this building will be worth much more at the same auction. But it so happens that we are in this situation now. And objectively, it cannot be said that the deputies did or did not approve this acquisition,» she adds.

Olena Kiseliova added that today there is no point in discussing fundraising from deputies or citizens to buy the building, as the city authorities have already abandoned the idea of buying «business card» of Mykolaiv.

«Today, there is no point in talking about deputies chipping in or organising some kind of global collection. The procedure is simple: there is an auction, if you want to buy one, you register and go. Musician Volodymyr Aleksieiev has many realistic options for how to use this building. But what he is doing today should have been implemented by the city council before the decision to refuse was made. Everything that is now at the mercy of the public, which is rightly outraged by certain actions, could have been done at the stage when the letter was received. We are talking about the intention to buy, but even if we imagine a situation where there is no money to buy the property of a territorial community, the Budget Code provides for budget funds and other sources of funding permitted by law. Then it would be possible to announce the collection of «other funds that are not prohibited by law», and everyone — deputies, public figures, philanthropists — could make contributions, and their names would become part of the history of this object. But the initiative would have belonged to the Mykolaiv City Council. I don't know why they didn't do it. Perhaps because they decided to, or it was not the right time. I have no answer to this question. I believe that in a situation where we are engaged in large projects, such as the construction of palaces or rings, it would be definitely relevant to preserve what we already have,» she said.

Sale of a historic building on Soborna Street

As you know, on 9 February, the building of the first tram substation at 8a Soborna Street was put up for sale with a starting price of just 3.5 million hryvnias.

According to the head of Mykolaiv's culture department, Yurii Liubarov, the owner of the building approached the mayor's office with a proposal to purchase the building before the auction was announced, but Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych refused, citing a lack of funds.

NikVesti asked Serhii Prudkyi, an honorary citizen of Mykolaiv and member of the executive committee, who was once a bank director and bought the building for «Aval», what he thought about the possibility of the city buying the property. He replied that the Department of Culture should now look for opportunities to purchase the building for ₴3.5 million to preserve the architectural monument for the people of Mykolaiv.

Tetiana Dombrovska, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council and head of the «Servant of the People» faction, is also of the opinion that the historic tram substation building on Soborna Street should be bought in the interests of the city community.

And Mykola Kapatsyna, co-owner of the shipyard «Ocean» and a member of the Mykolaiv City Council, said he was ready to allocate 1 million hryvnias to buy the building for the city along with others.

Deputy Artem Illiuk said that the city authorities should have involved the deputies in the decision to purchase the property.

At the same time, musician, volunteer and chairman of the supervisory board of the NGO «DOF» Volodymyr Aleksieiev supported the idea of raising 3.5 million hryvnias to buy the building of the first tram substation in the centre of Mykolaiv. He proposed to combine social and commercial uses in this building, which would bring benefits to the city and maintain the historic building.

As you know, this building was built in 1915 as the city's first tram substation. But later, the city built a more spacious building for these purposes, so in 1933 the equipment was removed and the building was empty for 40 years.

In 1970, it was decided to demolish the abandoned building to widen Lenin Avenue and build an underpass. However, thanks to the efforts of the city's former architect Olha Popova, the former substation was preserved and after reconstruction, a cafe «Sadko» started operating there.

The cafe operated until 1989, and then a bar «Assol» was opened there. After the collapse of the USSR, the building was empty again. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Mykolaiv branch of the bank «Aval» became the owner of the monument, and after renovating the building, it opened a branch.