Sienkevych believes that «Nibulon» has not provided a sufficient explanation regarding the appeal concerning the land concession

The Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, believes that Nibulon has not provided a sufficient explanation for its request regarding land lease concessions.

He spoke about this in a comment to NikVesti following the city council session held on 27 March.

As is known, Nibulon has appealed to Mykolaiv City Council for a concession on rent payments for land potentially contaminated with explosive ordnance. This concerns over 50 hectares in Mykolaiv’s seaport, where Nibulon’s plant and terminal are located. In its appeal, the company cites potential contamination of the water area and the impossibility of using it.

However, the Budget Committee of the Mykolaiv City Council did not support Nibulon’s appeal. During the vote on drafting a decision regarding Nibulon’s appeal and bringing the matter before the council session, seven committee members voted in favour, whilst four abstained.

«I think this is a shortcoming on the part of the presenters, Nibulon itself, in fact. They needed to explain in more detail what this is, why it is needed and how it works. I believe we discussed this during today’s session . We are talking about a water area which they cannot use, but for which they must pay land rent. At the same time, they are proposing to receive an exemption because they are unable to use this territory, which may not even be mined. As compensation, they propose to redirect personal income tax from their other facilities to the city budget to offset the losses from the land rent for which they are seeking an exemption,» says Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Nibulon has threatened to leave Mykolaiv if it does not receive a ‘land tax exemption’

Nibulon has announced that it may reconsider its presence in Mykolaiv if no decision is made to grant a concession on the rent for this land.

The company’s representative, Director of Government Relations Oleksandr Dolzhenkov, directly linked future financial contributions to the city budget to the councillors’ stance on the concession. In the absence of a positive decision, Nibulon plans to change the tax address of the company and its subsidiaries. In that case, taxes will go to other local budgets. Commission member Serhii Kantor reacted to this, stating that the company representative’s words sounded like blackmail.

It should be noted that Nibulon’s appeal refers to the possible contamination of land plots with explosive objects. It states that a non-technical survey of the water area was carried out. Experts also interviewed Nibulon employees and residents of Mykolaiv. They reported that the port area and adjacent waters had been repeatedly shelled both in 2022 and subsequently.

Furthermore, following the active phase of hostilities, a company diver inspected the seabed near the quay and discovered metal debris, likely from rocket-propelled grenades. In particular, parts of a cluster munition were found. During demining operations, State Emergency Service personnel also discovered another cluster munition approximately 550–600 metres from the surveyed area.

As a result of the survey, three zones were identified as potentially hazardous due to the possible presence of explosive objects.

The Budget Committee of the Mykolaiv City Council did not support the appeal by the company Nibulon regarding the granting of a concession on the payment of rent for land potentially contaminated with explosive objects. During the vote on drafting a decision regarding Nibulon’s request and bringing the matter before the session, seven committee members voted in favour, whilst four abstained.

Last week , at a session of the city council , the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, stated that Mykolaiv risks losing at least 100 million hryvnias in annual tax revenue if councillors do not support granting land tax exemptions to the company Nibulon. According to him, the issue of exempting the company from land tax was not supported by the budget committee, although the city authorities had previously discussed this with the company’s owner.