Over 10 years of court proceedings: residents of Soliany continue to challenge the construction of a petrol station near their homes

In Mykolaiv, a long-running court case involving residents of the Soliany neighbourhood against the construction of a petrol station near residential buildings is ongoing.

This is reported by NikVesti.

As is known, in May 2025, the Central District Court of Mykolaiv upheld the claim of local resident Liudmyla Sereda and overturned the 2009 city council decision allowing the lease of land for the construction of a petrol station near residential buildings in the Soliany neighbourhood. The land plot in question is 1,174 square metres in size and is located at the corner of Heroes of Ukraine Avenue and Novo-Odeska Street. Initially, it was planned to be used for a health centre, but later the purpose was changed to the construction of a petrol station.

Residents of Soliany continue to protest against the construction of a petrol station near their homes. Photo: NikVesti

Plaintiff Liudmyla Sereda emphasised that the decision was made with violations: without public hearings, as required by law for objects of increased environmental danger. The petrol station was planned to be located only 28 metres from a residential building, although the norm is at least 50 metres.

Start of construction of a petrol station in the Solyani neighbourhood near residential buildings. Photo: Oleksandr Cherno, 2011 archive

Start of construction of a petrol station in the Solyani neighbourhood near residential buildings. Photo: Oleksandr Cherno, 2011 archive

Start of construction of a petrol station in the Solyani microdistrict near residential buildings. Photo: Oleksandr Cherno, 2011 archive

In turn, residents of the dormitory of the Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding are trying to overturn the city council's decision to build a petrol station on the second plot at 11 Heroes of Ukraine Avenue, near their building, through the courts. Yesterday, 10 February, the case was to be heard in the Central District Court, but it was postponed.

Oleksandr Cherno. Photo: NikVesti

«Residents of the dormitory and local residents protested against this development because it was illegal; nothing can be built there. It violates all established norms. This is how the story began: the residents tore down the construction fence that the developers had erected, then filed a lawsuit and won the first instance cases on both plots, as well as the appeal. However, the developers filed a cassation appeal, and in 2015, the case was returned to the court of first instance,» said Oleksandr Cherno in a comment to NikVesti.

Residents of the building at 11 PGU Street are obstructing work to relocate the sewerage system for the construction of a petrol station, October 2013. Photo: Oleksandr Cherno

It should be noted that in 2019, the Mykolaiv City Council refused to extend the land lease to the developers.

«Although in 2019 the city council refused to extend the land lease to the developers and approved a recreational zone on both plots, the court cases are still ongoing. The developers, acting as a third party, disagree with the decision on the illegality of the previous permit and continue to insist that they are right,» added Oleksandr Cherno.

Picket outside the Mykolaiv City Council, October 2013. Photo: Oleksandr Cherno

The case has been postponed until 28 April.

«We hope that, as in the case of one site where the case has already been concluded, a lawful decision will be made in this case as well. We really want this story to finally come to an end,» concluded Oleksandr Cherno.

What is known about the controversial construction of a petrol station in the Inhulskyi district?

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The story surrounding the construction on Kobera Street began back in 2014. At that time, the company «Svit Zdorovia» received a plot of land near «Zoria»-«Mashproekt» for the construction of a sports and recreation complex. Some of the trees on the territory were cut down back then.

In March 2014, the then acting mayor Yurii Hranaturov publicly acknowledged during a meeting of the city executive committee that the situation raised many questions and stated that construction would be suspended until its feasibility had been clarified. Despite this, according to local residents, work continued, mainly at night.

In January 2015, the conflict escalated. Residents of houses located on Kobera Street and employees of the «Zoria»-«Mashproekt» plant took to the streets in protest. They claimed that a petrol station was being built on the site of the complex, even though according to the documents, a health centre was supposed to be built there. According to them, construction continued at night despite the city council's ban. They complained about the felling of about 100 trees in the park area, trenches in the courtyards, and the disruption of the ecological balance in the industrial area.

On 28 January 2015, the Mykolaiv City Council refused to extend the land lease to Svit Zdorovia LLC.

It should be recalled that a year ago, the city council initially agreed to the actual renewal of the lease agreement for a land plot of 7,643 square metres to the Lviv-based company Svit Zdorovia, formally for the construction of a sports and health centre and the maintenance of administrative buildings. However, just two months after this decision, the city council agreed to change the intended use of the land plot to the placement and operation of road service facilities. Both issues were submitted for consideration at the session as part of a «package» with other land issues and were adopted without discussion.

Local residents told NikVesti that there were no public hearings on the development of this land plot and they had not heard of any. They recalled that even before the full-scale invasion, there had been attempts to build a petrol station in this area — and at that time, the project was successfully stopped.

In November, green marks for felling reappeared on the oak trees along Kober Street in Mykolaiv. Photo: NikVesti

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych responded to the scandal surrounding the construction of a petrol station in a green area and instructed his subordinates to prepare a report.

In November, it became known that the Ministry of Economy was conducting repeated public discussions on the construction of the petrol station. In response, the residents of Mykolaiv sent a collective letter to the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, protesting against the construction of a new petrol station complex by the company Svit Zdorovia LLC.

Later, green marks for felling reappeared on the oak trees along Kobera Street, near the Zoria factory. Environmentalists immediately inspected the oak trees. According to the inspectors' conclusions, all the trees are in satisfactory condition, the marks were made randomly, and there are no grounds for felling.