Sienkevych decided to replace the head of the public transport department amid negative comments from Mykolaiv residents

Andrii Vetsalo, former director of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivkomuntrans». Photo: Svidok

The Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, explained that he had decided not to renew the contract with Andrii Vetsalo, director of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivkomuntrans», due to the negative assessment of his leadership expressed by residents on social media.

The mayor spoke about this during a staff meeting on 9 November, according to a correspondent for NikVesti.

The mayor said that two months before the contracts were due to expire, he had warned the heads of the municipal enterprises that their contracts would not be automatically renewed on the previous terms. Instead, he would assess the performance of each enterprise individually.

«With these contracts due to expire in two months’ time, I informed everyone that their contracts would not be automatically renewed for the same term and under the same terms. I conveyed this to all the directors whose contracts had come to an end. The key issue is the fulfilment of objectives.

As well as meeting financial targets, it’s also about the satisfaction of Mykolaiv’s residents with your work. And for me, the best way to gauge the satisfaction of Mykolaiv’s residents is to look at the Contact Centre at Mykolaiv City Council,» said the mayor.

According to him, he regularly reviews enquiries to the contact centre, as well as complaints that residents post on social media. This, as the mayor explained, allows him to identify problems that business managers might not report.

«To put it simply, there we see enquiries from citizens who have approached us in a civilised manner. Because there is also an uncivilised way. What does «uncivilised» mean? It’s when people reach out using foul language, or whilst under the influence of the profound negative impact of various events happening in their lives. They record videos or take photos with comments like «When the hell will you greedy bastards have had enough?». That’s putting it very simply.

So, with all this in mind, I’m constantly analysing the situation, and for me this is a way of breaking out of the information bubble in which you’re all trying to keep me, claiming that «everything’s fine, everything’s working». And I receive this information directly from the public. So, based on this, and analysing a number of factors, I draw my conclusions. I’ve warned you about this,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The mayor also stated that some heads of municipal enterprises have become so accustomed to their posts that they have begun to regard the enterprises as their own.

«Secondly, some employees and managers of municipal institutions, enterprises and organisations have, as the saying goes, put down roots in their jobs, and they now believe that it is not they who are servants of these enterprises, but that the enterprises are their personal servants. This is wrong. I remind each and every one of you of this whenever we meet and have serious discussions. We are all in our posts on a temporary basis. We must bear this in mind,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The mayor then announced that he had decided not to renew the contract with Andrii Vetsalo, director of «Mykolaivkomгтtrans». The new head of the company will be Viktor Dmytruk, head of the Zavodskyi District Administration, who is due to take up his post on 10 November. The plan is to sign a one-year contract with him.

Oleksandr Sienkevych also stated that he would henceforth document any shortcomings on the part of managers so that, when deciding on contract renewals, he would have a specific list of grievances regarding their performance.

«I’ve decided to keep a record of shortcomings so that when, hypothetically speaking, a person’s contract is up for renewal or a decision is being made on my proposal to dismiss them, the question will be: «Why?»» Then I’ll simply go through the list to remind you why this is happening,» he added.

At the same time, the mayor emphasised that his words should not be taken as threats or a public display of punishment for company managers.

«Right, colleagues, I’m not threatening anyone. This isn’t a show for the media. You’ll recall that our previous meeting with you took place without the media, without department directors, heads of divisions and so on. We met in a small group,» clarified Oleksandr Sienkevych.

At the end of his speech, the mayor called on the managers to take their duties more seriously, explaining that their work directly affects his reputation as well.

«So I’m simply asking you to do a good job. Because today my reputation depends on your work, and your reputation depends on your own. In other words, it turns out that, in a sense, your reputation doesn’t actually depend on mine. Isn’t that right? That’s how it is. But mine depends on yours all the time. So, friends, I’m asking you all to pull your weight,» added the mayor.

It is worth noting that the salary of Andrii Vetsalo, director of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivkomuntrans», was one of the highest amongst the heads of municipal enterprises. According to the published declaration, in 2025 his salary averaged 146,900 гривень per month.

Meanwhile, in February 2026, Andrii Vetsalo, director of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivkomuntrans», publicly called on the former director of «Mykolaivpastrans», Dmytro Teslenko, to settle their differences. This happened on the very day that the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, was celebrating his birthday.