On its third attempt, the Budget Committee approved a land tax exemption for Nibulon worth ₴14 million

The Budget Committee has approved a land rent concession for Nibulon. Screenshot of the committee meeting

The Mykolaiv City Council Budget Committee considered for the third time an appeal from the company «Nibulon» regarding the granting of a concession on the payment of rent for land plots that may be contaminated with explosive ordnance. This time, the proposal was supported.

The request was considered during the committee meeting on 15 May, according to NikVesti.

As a reminder, in March the budget committee did not support the exemption. The issue was then considered a second time at the end of April, but again failed to gain the support of committee members.

This time, the committee met solely to discuss the matter concerning «Nibulon». During the discussion, the company’s representative, Oleksandr Dolzhenkov, stated that the enterprise «Nibulon Agro» had already been re-registered in Mykolaiv, which should increase personal income tax revenue.

«We used to have Vradiivske LLC; it has now been renamed Nibulon Anro LLC. It was registered last month in the city of Mykolaiv. If we’re talking about «Nibulon Agro», then that and «Nibulon» are affiliated companies… There will now be a harvesting company, and the people at «Nibulon Agro» are obliged to cover all these areas. And over 30 hectares of land have been registered,» noted the company representative.

Screenshot from OpenDataBot regarding changes to the registration details of Nibulon LLC

According to Oleksandr Dolzhenkov, the company plans to employ up to 600 staff, with an average salary of around 25,000 hryvnias.

At the same time, he acknowledged that by 2026, the company had already cut around 20% of its workforce.

This raised questions from commission member Andrii Yantar, who expressed doubts about the feasibility of the stated plans.

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«I’m curious where the extra money will come from, given that 20% of staff were made redundant in 2026. So how will the increase be funded… I’m concerned because you have a practice of transferring people you don’t like to a one-hour working day, and of course they end up leaving. I fear that a large number of these transferred employees will end up in the same situation,» noted a member of the committee.

In response, a company representative assured that Nibulon is committed to fulfilling its obligations and is ready for further dialogue with the city authorities.

«We are keen to keep our promise. If the situation does not change, we will also approach the city council in the future and we are committed to a constructive approach,» he remarked.

The issue of concluding a separate agreement with the company on mutual obligations sparked a separate discussion. Commission member Serhii Kantor, as on the previous occasion, continued to insist that tax breaks should be granted on transparent terms for all enterprises.

«They’re declaring around 100 million. For them, it won’t be 100 million, because not all personal income tax goes into the city budget. For them, the figure will be higher, as part of it goes to both the regional and national budgets. So it’s not quite that simple. But if they and other enterprises sign such an agreement, then I, as a member of the Mykolaiv city team, will support these sensible steps,» noted Serhii Kantor.

Committee Chair Fedir Panchenko noted that imposing such a condition could create legal obstacles if the city council lacks the legal mechanisms to conclude such agreements.

«Perhaps we should ask the legal department to look into the possibility of concluding such agreements and then act in accordance with their conclusion. If we make this a condition, it could block the decision,» the committee chair believes.

Ultimately, the committee recommended that the executive bodies prepare a draft decision on granting the company a concession and submit it for consideration at a city council session. Ten committee members voted in favour of this decision, whilst two abstained.

The committee members did not support a separate amendment by Serhii Kantor regarding the mandatory signing of an agreement with the company — four councillors abstained.

Nibulon threatened to leave Mykolaiv if it did not receive a «land concession»

Nibulon has stated that it may reconsider its presence in Mykolaiv if it is refused a concession on the lease of land plots which the company considers to be potentially contaminated with explosive ordnance.

During a meeting of the budget committee, company representative Oleksandr Dolzhenkov stated that, in the event of a refusal, the company might change the tax address of its divisions, which would result in a loss of revenue for the city budget.

Committee member Serhii Kantor responded by saying that such statements appear to be an attempt to put pressure on councillors.

Nibulon explains that the land in question may have been contaminated as a result of shelling, citing the results of a non-technical survey and fragments of munitions discovered during inspections.

The City Council’s Budget Committee did not support the company’s appeal for the exemption: 7 councillors voted «for», 4 abstained.

Earlier, the Regional State Administration stated that if the decision was not approved, the city could lose at least 100 million hryvnias in annual tax revenue.

The Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, believes that Nibulon has not sufficiently explained its request for a land lease concession.