Mykolaiv is still awaiting the Antimonopoly Committee's decision on the waste sorting tender

The Mykolaiv City Council is awaiting the conclusions of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine regarding the updated terms of the tender for household waste sorting.

This was announced by Ihor Nabatov, Deputy Director of the Mykolaiv Housing and Utilities Department, during a briefing on Thursday, 22 January, according to NikVesti.

It should be noted that after consultations with city council deputies, the terms of the tender were revised to take into account their recommendations. The updated documentation was sent to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine for review. After receiving the conclusions of the AMCU, the tender is planned to be submitted for approval to the Mykolaiv City Council session.

Ihor Nabatov said that the Antimonopoly Committee has at least 30 days to analyse the documentation.

«The Antimonopoly Committee has a minimum of 30 days to analyse the documents. This is a procedure that has been in place since the 1990s. As of today, we have not received any additional questions, which is a good sign,» he said.

At the same time, Ihor Nabatov added that it is currently difficult to predict when the AMCU's conclusion will be received and when the issue will be brought before the city council for consideration.

Earlier, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych noted that the resonance around the competition had spread beyond the city, but he sees this as a positive thing.

«When the competition caused a nationwide stir, I saw this as a positive thing, because it could attract the interest of those who did not even know about this competition. And now everyone will know about it,» the mayor said.

At the same time, according to Oleksandr Sienkevych, none of the donors have yet expressed a willingness to build a waste sorting line and transfer it to the city for use. In their view, such projects should be implemented either in the form of a waste incineration plant or as a business project included in the tariff.

The situation with the construction of a sorting line in Mykolaiv

The issue of waste sorting in Mykolaiv was raised back in 2019, when the need for two lines was estimated at approximately 10 million hryvnias. At that time, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych insisted that the costs should be borne by investors, not the city budget. Although a waste management programme was adopted, it was never implemented.

The Supreme Court ruled that the city council's inaction was unlawful and ordered the construction of a sorting line, as the landfill, which has been in operation since 1972, had exhausted its capacity.

In 2024, deputies approved the operating procedure for the solid waste sorting complex and announced an investment competition. The first competition did not take place, but the second was won by Waste To Energy Niko LLC. However, the company received only the minimum required score, and deputies and the head of the city administration, Vitaliy Kim, criticised the closed nature of the procedure and the unfavourable conditions.

Law enforcement agencies opened proceedings and conducted searches in the city council. At the session on 28 August, deputies did not support the approval of the agreement with the winner. The city authorities are preparing new conditions for the competition. Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that the process would be public, with the involvement of international partners, in particular from Denmark.

Read also the NikVesti article: «How Mykolaiv wants to start sorting waste».