Sienkevych met with Zelensky: the president gathered mayors to discuss winter and the budget

Mayors at a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photo: screenshot from a video by the Office of the President of Ukraine

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, took part in a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the mayors of Ukrainian cities. They discussed preparations for winter, defence against Russian attacks and local authority budgets.

«NikVesti» learnt of this from a post by Volodymyr Zelensky.

In addition to Mykolaiv, the meeting was attended by the mayors of Kharkiv, Dnipro, Uzhhorod, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Cherkasy and Vinnytsia, as well as the acting mayors of Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk and Rivne. Also present were Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi, the executive director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, the president of the Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils, and the chair of the Kharkiv Regional Council.

Mayors at a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photo: screenshot from a video by the Office of the President of Ukraine

— «This was the first meeting in this format; from now on, it will take place regularly,» wrote Volodymyr Zelensky.

The President identified the main topic as the preparation of towns and communities for winter, against the backdrop of Russian strikes on critical and transport infrastructure and residential buildings. Participants discussed energy, air defence, internal security threats, the resilience of communications and assistance to the public, as well as how central, regional and local authorities will respond.

The President expects cities and regions to provide prompt and accurate information on what is happening on the ground. They discussed separately the provision of assistance to people who may find themselves in difficult circumstances this winter, and the preservation of communities’ budgetary capacity.

On the evening of 13 November, Oleksandr Sienkevych shared the President’s post on his Telegram channel without adding any comments of his own.

How Mykolaiv is facing the winter

For Mykolaiv, the budget is the most pressing issue. The city is short of 819 million hryvnias by the end of the year; the city council has appealed three times to the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers for help. On 6 November, Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that no one was responding to the appeals, and that funds to subsidise the water utility and cover part of the salaries would run out as early as November.

The city needs the largest amount – 412.7 million hryvnias – for water and heating supplies. The mayor had previously raised the issue of the funding shortfall at a meeting with the Prime Minister, which was also attended by the Minister of Finance. According to him, this meeting yielded no results.

Heating is still being rolled out across the city. According to the mayor, as of the evening of 13 November, «Mykolaivoblteploenergo» had supplied heat to 1,227 out of 1,230 residential buildings, whilst the Mykolaiv Thermal Power Station had supplied heat to 726 out of 746. The day before, 20 high-rise blocks remained without heating, according to the thermal power station’s department.

Sienkevych and Zelensky

In March 2022, during the defence of Mykolaiv, Volodymyr Zelensky awarded Oleksandr Sienkevych the Order «For Courage», 3rd class, and the then head of the Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class. The President presented the awards in June of that year, when he visited Mykolaiv.

In October 2026, Oleksandr Sienkevych publicly supported Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stating that Ukrainians would elect their own president after the war.