Sienkevych commented on the head of the Regional State Administration: «We have nothing to fight over»

Following Vitalii Kim’s resignation, Oleksandr Sienkevych commented on the new head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration. Photo: NikVesti archive

Following Vitalii Kim’s move to the government, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stated that he did not anticipate any problems in working with the new head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Heorhiy Reshetilov.

He made these remarks in a comment to NikVesti, responding to a question about whether it would be possible to maintain the effective cooperation that had existed with the previous head of the Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim.

According to Oleksandr Sienkevych, during his time in office he has worked with several heads of the regional state administration, and managed to find common ground with each of them.

«I have worked with various heads of the Regional State Administration. As you may recall, there have been several over the last 10–11 years. The first head of the Regional State Administration was Vadym Merikov. And so on. Sooner or later, we find common ground with any head of the regional state administration,» he said.

The mayor emphasised that today the powers and financial resources of local authorities are significantly limited, so he sees no reason for rivalry between the city and regional authorities.

«I don’t think we have anything to fight over with anyone. I’m ready to work with whoever is appointed to this post or acts in that capacity. There’s work to be done; it simply needs to be done. There are no political ambitions, no elections or anything of the sort on the horizon, so we just need to get on with it,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The mayor also noted that the challenge facing the authorities today is not political issues, but a lack of resources. According to him, after every Russian shelling, the city’s needs grow, whilst financial resources remain limited.

At the same time, he added, residents expect the same level of services from the authorities as they did before the full-scale war began.

«The work is harder to do because there are fewer resources, whilst needs increase daily following the shelling. At the same time, public expectations of local and regional authorities remain the same as they were before the war. People do not realise that there is a war going on and demand the same level of service, and we must meet those expectations,» added the mayor.

As a reminder, on 16 July, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Vitalii Kim as Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. Prior to this, he had headed the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration since November 2020. Heorhii Reshetilov has become acting head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration. Furthermore, all current deputy heads of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration will continue to work in Heorhii Reshetilov’s team, although he has the option to replace them.

The following day, in a video address to the people of Mykolaiv, he promised to champion the interests of the Mykolaiv region in the state budget.

See also the article by NikVesti: «Who is Heorhii Reshetilov, the new head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration».