Voznesensk Councillors from Voznesensk urge government to increase payments to communities near Nuclear Power Plants
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- Alina KvitkoReporter
South Ukraine Nuclear Power Station. Photo: Getty Images / The Kyiv Independent.Councillors from the Voznesensk City Council in the Mykolaiv region have appealed to the President, the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers to increase funding for communities located near nuclear power stations. According to their figures, the state receives billions of hryvnias annually to compensate for the risks posed by nuclear power stations, yet the communities do not receive adequate funding.
This was discussed on 16 October during a regular session of the Voznesensk City Council, reports NikVesti.
Valentyna Moskalenko, head of the City Council’s Finance Department, explained that the Voznesensk community is situated within the 30-kilometre surveillance zone of the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Station. By law, such communities are entitled to receive funds for safety measures and infrastructure development.
However, she said that over the past six years, the community has either received no funds at all or only small amounts.
«We have come to terms with the fact that we are situated 30 kilometres from operational nuclear facilities. This is the so-called risk zone. Unfortunately, for more than six years running, we have either received nothing at all or received a subsidy,» said Valentyna Moskalenko.
She reported that this year the figure amounts to approximately one million hryvnias. In her view, this money is insufficient for a community living near a nuclear power station.
At the same time, the MPs’ appeal states that «Energoatom» continues to pay a special levy to the state budget to compensate the population for the risks. In 2025, the company transferred 2 billion 231 million hryvnias, and in the first six months of 2026 alone — almost 1.7 billion hryvnias.
However, as the councillors explain, in recent years the legislative provisions stipulating the transfer of these funds to local authorities have been suspended by laws on the state budget.
The city council’s appeal states:
«The source of funding provided for by law is being generated, but its proper allocation to areas where the population lives under conditions of corresponding risk is not being ensured».
Councillors emphasise that this money is needed first and foremost for people’s safety. It could be used to repair shelters, fit out protective structures in schools and hospitals, install warning systems and provide the population with protective equipment.
In particular, Valentina Moskalenko drew attention to the need to repair school shelters in Voznesensk.
«We could also allocate these funds to those shelters that currently require upgrading. Just yesterday, the mayor was forced to make an urgent decision regarding one of the shelters at our secondary schools,» she said.
Furthermore, the compensation funds could be used to repair water supply and sewerage networks, provide backup power supplies and support other vital community facilities.
In their appeal, the councillors are asking for the mechanism for transferring funds to communities located near nuclear power stations to be reinstated. They also propose that, when drawing up the state budget for 2027, funding for such areas be provided in line with the actual revenue from the special levy.
NikVesti previously reported that in June 2026, the Voznesensk community was allocated 2 million 78 thousand hryvnias in state subsidies to compensate residents living near nuclear power stations for the risks they face.
