Sienkevych will submit the Integrity Plan to the session despite criticism

During a staff meeting on 2 March, he noted that the document has been under discussion for almost a year, and further delays in the process are «turning into a circus», so the city must move from discussions to decision-making, according to NikVesti.

The head of the expert and public council, Artem Vashchylenko, recalled that the document has been on the city's agenda since the middle of last year. According to him, on 15 August, the expert council prepared a number of recommendations for the draft in an open format, but there was no response from the developers. A second appeal was made on 29 October, and only on 20 December — six months later — did the council receive a response.

«And immediately we saw publications in the local media that the project had been revised taking into account the recommendations of the public, the expert public council, and so on. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Some of the comments were taken into account, but most were ignored. We propose to return to the development of this document. In its current form, it should not be submitted, because we are not only receiving criticism of this document, but also fuelling public scepticism about its quality,» said Artem Vashchylenko.

Open meeting of the Mykolaiv City Council staff meeting on 12 January. Archive photo: NikVesti

The head of the anti-corruption department, Vitalii Yaroshenko, said that some of the expert council's proposals had been taken into account, as had the comments of citizens, journalists and the National Agency for Corruption Prevention. According to him, the issue was brought up five times at meetings of the relevant committee, but was never considered.

«A joint meeting of the standing committee on legality and the expert and public council is currently planned, to be organised by councillor Olena Kiselova by 11 March. That is where we will consider all the proposals,» said Vitalii Yaroshenko.

Oleksandr Sienkevych emphasised that the idea of creating the plan arose last spring. Due to the delay in the process, he decided to submit the latest version of the document to the executive committee, which supported it as a basis for further consideration at the session.

«We accepted it as a basic document to be considered at the session and to speed up the process. Because at this rate, we will never adopt this document: everyone will give their recommendations and consider them to be the final word. I think we need to finalise the document, adopt it in the near future, and then modernise it. If there are any proposals for changes, we will calmly incorporate them into any documents and regulations of the city council. There is no need to wait any longer, because this is actually turning into more of a circus of self-acceptance of the document than its implementation,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych. Archive photo: NikVesti

He also noted that the document had been approved by the European Anti-Corruption Initiative and emphasised that after its adoption, it could be amended and improved. According to the mayor, if the session does not support the plan, the city authorities can begin its implementation on the basis of a decision by the executive body.

«I took responsibility and brought this issue to the executive committee, which made a decision. If the session does not support this decision, we will begin implementing the plan based on the decision of the executive body of the Mykolaiv City Council... Because it's all talk, talk, talk. A year of talk. No decisions. I can't wait any longer, as they say... Now there is a decision. Now it can be finalised, changed, improved, etc. But so far, there is no decision from the session. Today, the document that was issued and voted on has passed all the recommendations of the European Anti-Corruption Initiative. This is important to say. We have corruption, as they say, it cannot be ignored. I agree that now we need to involve the public, experts and all interested parties, but I decided to speed up the process because, frankly speaking, I was fed up with the constant stagnation: talks, discussions, debates, but zero results. That is why he is the mayor, to make such decisions sometimes,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

At present, the Integrity Plan project has not yet been included in the session agenda. It is to be considered after passing through the relevant committee.

In Mykolaiv, work has been ongoing for almost two years on the city council's Integrity Plan, which aims to reduce the risks of corruption and favouritism among deputies and officials. The document covers six key areas: procurement, land assets, infrastructure, local government, ethics and anti-corruption.

The working group first met in June 2024, but the discussions and proposals were repeatedly criticised for not involving the public and the media. In 2025, deputies refused to adopt the Plan without real discussion, and the NikVesti media outlet and experts made their own amendments, in particular regarding the transparency of remote meetings and physical access for journalists to the city council.

In March 2026, the Department of Internal Financial Control updated the document for 2026–2028, taking into account the proposals of citizens, activists and deputies, as well as the recommendations of the NACP. The register of corruption risks in the areas of procurement, infrastructure, public amenities, education and medicine has been expanded.