The director of «Mykolaivvodokanal» says that the conflict with staff arose due to the new measures

Hennadii Iziumov, Director of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivvodokanal», during a briefing. Photo: NikVesti

Hennadii Iziumov, Director of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivvodokanal», said that the conflict with the company’s employees arose due to new measures and tighter controls, but the incident has now been resolved.

He spoke about this during the «Results of the First 100 Days» briefing on Thursday, 28 May, according to NikVesti.

According to him, he identified problems at the company that previous managers had not noticed. In particular, GPS devices were installed on company vehicles, enabling the tracking of vehicle routes and the detection of instances where they were used for non-work-related purposes during working hours.

«We all understand that any changes to your daily routine, to your life, are always stressful. And when a new manager arrives, they see things that others do not, and the introduction of changes always causes both stress and resistance. This was particularly true of the introduction of controls on the use of vehicles, when the GPS systems came into operation and we began tracking the routes of cars and other vehicles; as a result, disciplinary measures were introduced because people were going about their own business during working hours. We understand all of this. Consequently, controls were tightened, and this reaction ensued,» says Hennadii Iziumov.

He added that he regularly visits the company’s sites and talks to the staff. According to him, what concerns people most are living conditions, the provision of workwear and the attitude towards employees.

«As for what happened, we need to get through it; it was a flash in the pan, and it has gradually died down. I understand that the management team is effectively in place; we have discussed this with every manager. Everyone understands what we will be doing next. We have no intention of simply laying people off; that will not happen. We will be working on a case-by-case basis across the entire structure of the company. And first and foremost, this will concern the administrative and management staff,» noted Hennadii Iziumov.

It should be noted that earlier, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, criticised the work of employees at the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivvodokanal», citing poor-quality repairs, constant repeated digging up of streets and a failure to maintain the area after work had been carried out.

Earlier, Oleksandr Sienkevych told NikVesti that talk of alleged preparations for the privatisation of the «Mykolaivvodokanal» municipal enterprise was a manipulation and an attempt to discredit the enterprise’s new head.

Scandal at Vodokanal

As a reminder, employees of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivvodokanal» have spoken out against the company’s new management and the Supervisory Board, accusing them of unprofessionalism and allegedly preparing the company for privatisation.

The Water Utility’s Supervisory Board, together with Director Hennadii Iziumov, stated that the company is in a critical financial state due to a prolonged governance crisis, ineffective management and systemic operational issues.

Also, during a meeting between staff and the new CEO on 15 April, the dismissal of Technical Director Vasyl Telpis was discussed. An audio recording of this conversation is in the possession of the editorial team at NikVesti. Employees reported that the dismissal came as a surprise to them, as Telpis had worked at the company since the 1980s and had been acting as head following the death of Borys Dudenko.

At this meeting, Hennadii Iziumov stated that he had not made the decision to dismiss Telpis and claimed that it had been taken by the Supervisory Board. However, the Supervisory Board denied having taken any decision to dismiss Vasyl Telpis.