A procedure for the removal of abandoned cars has been drawn up in Mykolaiv, but it has not yet been approved

A burnt-out car on 6th Slobidska Street. Photo: Contact Centre at Mykolaiv City Council

In Mykolaiv, a procedure has been drawn up to regulate the identification and removal of abandoned cars from the city’s streets. However, the document has not yet been approved, as the city requires a dedicated storage site for the vehicles and a recovery vehicle to implement it.

This is reported in an article by NikVesti entitled «Ghost cars, or why abandoned vehicles have been left on the streets of Mykolaiv for years».

It should be recalled that in September 2025, Oleksandr Bereza, head of the Central District Administration, announced that Mykolaiv was preparing a procedure to enable the removal of abandoned cars from the streets.

The document has now been drafted. It stipulates that abandoned cars will initially be recorded by district administrations — either during inspections or following reports from residents. A notice will be left on the car for the owner, and its condition will be checked weekly for at least one month.

If the owner does not come forward, the case will be referred to a special commission comprising representatives of the city council, the municipal utility company, the police and other services. The commission will inspect the vehicle and attempt to identify the owner.

Where there are grounds to do so, the committee will decide to have the car towed away. It will be taken by a recovery vehicle to a designated site and handed over to the National Police for safekeeping.

The owner will be able to collect the vehicle upon reimbursement of the storage costs. If, within six months of the announcement, neither the owner nor any other person entitled to the vehicle claims their rights, the vehicle may be sold. The proceeds from the sale will be held in a special account, and if no one claims them within three years, they will become the property of the Mykolaiv City Council.

However, the city is not yet in a position to implement this scheme. To do so, it is necessary to set up a site equipped with fencing, lighting, CCTV, access roads and suitable surfacing.

Initial estimates put the cost of setting up the site at around 1.6 million hryvnias; the city council now estimates the cost at over 2 million hryvnias. In addition, the city needs a tow truck to move the vehicles.

The city council noted that, due to the difficult financial situation, there is currently no funding available for the site’s development.

«The document will only be put forward for approval once the necessary funding for the measures has been secured, which is a condition set by the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Mykolaiv region,» the city council stated.

It should be recalled that last autumn, Odesa adopted new regulations setting out how to locate and remove abandoned vehicles from the city’s streets. The decision was supported by 42 councillors during a council session.