Misconduct and dereliction of duty: five cases are being investigated involving officials at the municipal enterprise «Mykolaiv Parks»

The police are investigating five criminal cases involving officials from the ‘Mykolaiv Parks’ municipal enterprise. Photo: Mykolaiv Parks municipal enterprise

Five criminal investigations have been underway since 2022 into officials at the «Mykolaiv Parks» municipal enterprise. The charges include abuse of office, misappropriation or embezzlement of property, and professional negligence.

This was reported on Facebook by Mykolaiv activist Dmytro Riabchenko, who published the response from the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Mykolaiv region to his information request, according to NikVesti.

Dmytro Riabchenko made this information public against the backdrop of a lawsuit brought against him by the municipal enterprise ‘Mykolaiv Parks’. The enterprise accuses the activist of spreading false information and attempting to undermine its business reputation.

«Look, the other day, you know, something incredibly amusing happened. I’ve become involved in legal proceedings. Well, upcoming legal proceedings, in which the municipal enterprise «Mykolaiv Parks» is accusing me. Let’s set out the facts objectively — they want me to retract my statements, and they’re accusing me of, «for unknown motives, which suggest personal animosity, attempting to discredit and undermine the business reputation of the municipal enterprise». I harbour no personal animosity towards any man, woman or neighbour, but only towards the municipal enterprise. Do you understand? So this is what I’m up to, it turns out,» he said.

According to the activist, he then decided to check which criminal cases concerning the enterprise were currently being investigated by the police.

«As for the discrediting — is there actually anything to discredit there? And here’s the question: haven’t you discredited yourselves so much over the past three years that, whenever I’m driving past and see employees of the «Mykolaiv Parks» municipal enterprise in those green uniforms, it really gets on my nerves. To be honest, this is subjective, because my immediate thought is: they’re cutting something down right now, or vandalising living trees or something like that. Those are the associations I have, I’m sorry to say. This post is about discrediting. About my own discrediting. Here is the response from the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Mykolaiv region,» said Dmytro Riabchenko.

According to the activist, he received a reply to his enquiry of 10 August regarding criminal proceedings against officials of the «Mykolaiv Parks» municipal enterprise. The document states that, since 1 January 2022, investigators have been looking into five such cases.

The first case, according to the police, concerns a possible criminal offence under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — abuse of power or official position, where this has caused serious consequences.

The second case was also opened under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The third relates to a possible offence under Article 191(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — misappropriation, embezzlement or acquisition of property through abuse of official position.

Another case, registered on 26 August 2025, is also being investigated under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The fifth case relates to Article 367(1) of the Criminal Code — professional negligence.

The police response states that pre-trial investigations are currently ongoing in all five criminal cases. Investigators are establishing the circumstances of possible criminal offences, after which they must take the appropriate procedural decisions.

«Guys, am I the one discrediting the «Mykolaiv Parks» municipal enterprise with five or six criminal cases for embezzlement and so on? Am I the one discrediting it? Are you serious? That’s it, curtain,» said Dmytro Riabchenko.

Five criminal investigations are underway concerning the ‘Mykolaiv Parks’ municipal enterprise. Screenshots of the police’s response to Dmytro Riabchenko’s freedom of information request

Five criminal investigations are currently underway concerning the ‘Mykolaiv Parks’ municipal enterprise. Screenshots of the police’s response to Dmytro Riabchenko’s freedom of information request

It should be recalled that in 2025–2026, the «Mykolaiv Parks» municipal enterprise was repeatedly criticised for the quality of its work. As early as the summer of 2025, it emerged that not a single tree had been planted in the city that spring, and that on Tsentralnyi Avenue, the privet bushes – which the municipal enterprise had intended to use to replace the cast-iron fence and had purchased for 1.5 million hryvnias as part of a 3.5-million-hryvnia contract – had withered. In December 2025, a contractor, whilst constructing a car park near a historic building in the city centre, damaged the roots of seven trees. In early 2026, the municipal enterprise announced that, as of 1 January, it had completely stopped using contractors and was carrying out all work itself; it also announced plans to grow flowers in its own greenhouses. However, by the end of March, the municipal enterprise had acknowledged a lack of funding for planting trees and wanted to have them felled as hazardous, although the environmental inspectorate insisted on a professional assessment.