«They are jerks,» Sienkevych urged councillors not to be «doormats» in their dealings with developers in the municipal market
- News of Mykolaiv
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- Alina Kvitko
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15:18, 30 January, 2026
Photo: NikVesti / Darina MelnichukMykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych criticised a private developer who has been using municipal land for over 10 years but has not transferred the share of property stipulated in the contract to the community.
During a city council session on 29 December, he called such behaviour as «stinginess» and urged deputies not to be «doormats» in their relations with business, according to NikVesti.
The land plot in question is located at 8 Pozdovzhnia Street, 2-B, near the tram depot on Budivelnykiv Street. Its approximate value is about 110 million hryvnias.
As councillor Fedir Panchenko explained, the company received the land on a superficies basis more than 10 years ago. The developer built most of the facilities, but registered a third of them, which was supposed to go to the community, in its own name and is now trying to keep the plot forever.
Deputies tried to return to the agenda the issue of refusing to grant Kristmas LLC permission to develop technical documentation on land management for the division of this plot, but there were not enough votes.
After that, Oleksandr Sienkevych reacted emotionally to the results of the vote, noting that the situation could have signs of corruption risk, and drew attention to the position of some of the deputies who abstained. Commenting on the story with the plot, the mayor said that the developer received the land on the right of superficies and undertook to transfer part of the built facilities to the city.
«In fact, this story simply shows that you shouldn't be a jerk. What do I mean? They took the land plot and said they would build four blocks of market facilities. According to the agreement, they would transfer a quarter of it to the city council. They built three-quarters and said, 'That's it, we're ready to hand it over.' We asked, 'Where's the city's share?' They replied, 'There's no money, we've run out.' We said, 'Okay, then let's take the fourth part of what has already been built — of these three-quarters.' The response was, 'No, that won't work.' And this whole situation revolves around this stinginess,» the mayor commented.
Shopping pavilions on 8 Povzdovzhnia Street, 2b. Photo: NikVesti
Trade pavilions on 8 Povzdovzhnia Street, 2v. Photo: NikVestiAccording to him, if the terms of the agreement were fulfilled, the city could civilisedly launch a market complex, regulate trade and solve traffic problems in the area.
«Because if they had transferred this part — let me remind you, we are talking about the tram depot on Budivelnykiv Street — done everything properly and given a quarter to the city, we would have given them the opportunity to work. We would have eliminated street trading on Budivelnykiv Street, helped with traffic organisation and launched this facility in a civilised manner. But no — boorishness, boorishness and more boorishness,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.
He also called on councillors to take a tougher stance in their relations with developers.
«Therefore, friends, I believe that this situation needs to be sorted out and stopped. We need to talk from a position of strength, not from a position of, as they say, 'doormats'. I'm sorry. Sometimes we need to show strength, not weakness. In this case, we are talking about the welfare of citizens — not individual councillors or the mayor, but the entire city council as the balance holder and founder of municipal enterprises. And, ultimately, about the interests of the residents of Mykolaiv,» the mayor emphasised.
Oleksandr Sienkevych instructed the Department of Anti-Corruption Policy to prepare an information report and conclusion on the situation and send them to the deputies. According to him, the issue will automatically be included in the agenda of the next session. By that time, the deputies will receive complete information about the history of the site, financial aspects and court proceedings.
«As Dmytro Falko just said, there is no such term, but boorishness exists. And this is one of the biggest problems standing in the way of our city's development. When I spoke about boorishness, I meant a certain phenomenon that exists even in the work of the city council. In executive bodies and municipal enterprises, there are cases when work is done in a «stingy» manner: the water utility, for example, connected a pipe, although it could have been made 20 cm longer; somewhere, a municipal enterprise did less than it could have done. This is a problem in our city, and it needs to be eradicated culturally. I would especially not want this to happen in the work of the city council,» concluded Oleksandr Sienkevych.
History of the plot on 8th Povzdovzhnia
The land plot at 8th Longitudinal Street, 2-v is located in the Inhulskyi district of Mykolaiv at the intersection with Budivelnykiv Street, not far from the Epicentre shopping centre. Previously, there was tram depot № 2 of the municipal enterprise Mykolaivelektrotrans. In 2012, the city council transferred 4 hectares of land for permanent use to the municipal enterprise «Miskrynekhospodarstvo» with the right to conclude a superficies agreement with «Kristmas» LLC.
Under the terms of the agreement, the investor was to build shopping pavilions, a third of which were to become the property of the community. The investment agreement was for 10 years and was valid until March 2024.
Currently, the city council, through the Commercial Court of Mykolaiv Region, is demanding that Christmas LLC pay the debt for the use of land in the period from 2020 to March 2024 (9.1 million hryvnias), as well as for the actual free use of the land after the expiration of the agreement (1.3 million hryvnias). In addition, the city council has filed a lawsuit to return the land plot with the demolition of buildings and cancellation of state registration of ownership rights to real estate objects.
PHOTO REPORT
Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych and Mykolaiv City Council Deputy Tetiana Dombrovska. Photo : NikVesti / Darina Melnychuk
Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych and City Council Secretary Dmytro Falko. Photo: NikVesti / Darina Melnychuk
Session of the Mykolaiv City Council, 29 January. Photo: NikVesti / Darina Melnychuk
Ramil Ahabekov, leader of the Servant of the People faction in the Mykolaiv City Council. Photo: NikVesti / Darina Melnychuk
Head of the Central District Administration Oleksandr Bereza. Photo: NikVesti / Darina Melnychuk
Director of the Mykolaiv Zoo, City Council Deputy Volodymyr Topchyi. Photo: NikVesti / Darina Melnychuk
Fedir Panchenko, head of the budget committee and city council deputy from the Propozytsia party. Photo: NikVesti / Darina Melnychuk
Chair of the Health Care Committee of the Mykolaiv City Council, Hanna Nord, and deputy Oleksandr Medvedev. Photo: NikVesti / Darina Melnychuk
Head of the Inhuskkyi District Administration Hanna Remennikova and Head of the Central District Administration Oleksandr Bereza. Photo: NikVesti / Darina Melnychuk