«There is a state-level agreement» — the mayor of Mykolaiv hopes that the World Bank will finance the reconstruction of 54 buildings

Destroyed building at 43 Pogranichna Street in Mykolaiv, September 2024, photo: "NikVesti"

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych expects that after the project documentation for the restoration of 54 residential high-rise buildings under the Hope project is developed, the World Bank will finance their reconstruction.

The mayor said this during his report on his activities for 2025, according to NikVesti.

As is known, design and estimate documentation worth 150.3 million hryvnias will be developed for the reconstruction of 54 buildings in Mykolaiv.

«These funds have been allocated by the World Bank through the Hope project,» the mayor reminded.

When asked by a journalist whether there was a possibility that the developed reconstruction projects would remain unfulfilled, the mayor initially replied, «It is possible».

«But, again, I don't think that will happen, because this is the World Bank and an agreement at the state level. Mykolaiv has done a lot of work to pass this competition. Now, according to the World Bank's rules, we are selecting organisations that will be involved in the design work. They will develop the project and cost estimate documentation, which will then be used by them to procure the repairs for these buildings. In other words, these funds are not planned to come from the city budget,» explained Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The mayor also added that the city expects to receive funds for the reconstruction of these buildings from international partners.

«We hoped for this when we decided to go ahead with this project. We were confirmed in this opinion when the state allocated funds in the amount of more than 150 million hryvnias. And, in principle, we think that this is such a strategic, consistent path that after the design phase, money will be allocated to finance these projects,» he explained.

Reconstruction of 54 houses in Mykolaiv

Mykolaiv is one of five communities selected for the World Bank-funded grant project «Housing Repair for the Restoration of People's Rights and Opportunities: Hope». In Mykolaiv, 54 houses were selected and divided into 21 clusters. 150.3 million hryvnias will be spent on their design.

NikVesti asked the city authorities whether they would be able to rebuild the residential buildings according to the developed projects before their term expires. They replied that they were not sure whether they would be able to rebuild all the houses by 2027.

Read also the article NikVesti «Reconstruction or just documents: how Mykolaiv will spend 150 million hryvnias from the World Bank.»

It later became known that this list included at least four buildings for which design and estimate documentation had already been developed. This is discussed in the article NikVesti «Projects to rebuild four buildings in Mykolaiv will be commissioned twice: Why this happened and how the authorities will avoid duplication.»

The Department of Housing and Communal Services explained that the projects already developed by the city include stabilisation measures, while the Hope project focuses on energy conservation and improvement. «In any case, our projects are more narrow in scope than those that will be developed within the framework of HOPE,» they added.

Tenders are currently underway to find designers for the major renovation of apartment buildings included in Hope.