Bereza calls on the City Council to put an end to the approved structure of Mykolaiv City Hall

Head of the Central District Administration, Councillor Oleksandr Bereza. Photo: NikVesti archive

The Head of the Central District Administration and City Council Deputy Oleksandr Bereza believes that administration staff are psychologically exhausted by the City Council’s failure to approve changes to the structure of the executive bodies. Deputies have failed to vote on this several times, so the deputy believes it is necessary to put an end to the approved structures.

He made these remarks at a meeting of the standing committee on economic and investment policy of the Mykolaiv City Council on 28 April, reports NikVesti.

Andrii Volkov, the executive committee’s chief of staff, noted that it is proposed to amend and supplement the decision of the Mykolaiv City Council dated 28 August 2025. In particular, a separate proposal has been made to establish a body for the protection of cultural heritage. However, councillors have already failed to pass the vote twice.

«The draft decision has not been voted on twice at the city council session. It has not changed in content during this time. Certain developments have taken place, according to which, firstly, we must approve the internal structure of the executive bodies and their staffing levels in accordance with the amendment that was voted on and introduced at the city council session. Secondly, a decision was taken that the cultural heritage protection body would be a separate body with the appropriate reporting lines,» said Andrii Volkov.

The Head of the Central District Administration, Councillor Oleksandr Bereza, supported the draft decision. According to him, the staff of the executive bodies are mentally exhausted because the decision has still not been adopted.

«We now have a situation where, let’s put it this way, the structure isn’t exactly hanging in the balance. Almost all the steps have already been taken, except for the final one, which will simply provide certainty for the executive committee staff themselves. Because, if we take, for example, my administration (of the Central District, — note), people are simply, so to speak, starting to get mentally exhausted from the very act of waiting. In other words, quite simply, everyone wants a decision,» said Oleksandr Bereza.

The councillors had no further questions. Eight councillors voted in favour, four abstained. The decision was not adopted.

As a reminder, in February, deputies of the Mykolaiv City Council were again unable to pass a decision approving the new structure of the executive bodies. The draft provided for the introduction of a separate body responsible for the protection of cultural heritage.

In March, lawyers at the city hall warned of the threat of a collapse in the structure of Mykolaiv City Council due to a number of unadopted decisions necessary for the final restructuring.

What Sienkevych proposes in the new structure of the Mykolaiv City Council

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych presented a draft of the new structure of the executive bodies back in April, which was developed in accordance with the recommendations of an Ernst & Young audit. The new structure provides for a reduction in the number of chief administrators, as well as the liquidation and consolidation of departments. However, the city council is currently unable to say by how much the staffing levels of executive bodies and the costs of maintaining them will be reduced.

Draft of the new structure of Mykolaiv’s executive bodies, presented in April 2025, screenshot from the mayor’s presentation

Meanwhile, the draft of the new structure of the Mykolaiv City Council’s executive bodies provides for an increase in the number of deputy mayors to seven. There are plans to create the post of deputy mayor for digitalisation.

The draft of the new structure of the executive bodies of the Mykolaiv City Council provides for a curtailment of the powers of district administrations, which will cease to be the main administrators of funds. This was publicly criticised by the heads of two districts, who are also councillors: Oleksandr Bereza and Hanna Remennikova.

At the same time, it was reported that Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych believes that councillors should not combine representative and executive functions, and therefore should not hold positions in the city council’s executive bodies.