«I have warned the supervisory board twice to submit their declarations,» says the water utility’s anti-corruption officer

Ihor Bloshko, the water utility’s anti-corruption officer, had warned the Supervisory Board about the declarations

Ihor Bloshko, the anti-corruption officer at the Mykolaivvodokanal municipal utility, stated that before reporting the matter to the police, he had twice warned members of the Supervisory Board about the need to submit income declarations.

Ihor Bloshko said this in a comment to a reporter from NikVesti.

It should be noted that the criminal proceedings regarding the deliberate failure to submit declarations by foreign members of the Supervisory Board were initiated precisely on the basis of his statement.

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During the conversation, he mentioned that they only found out about the formation of the body at the company after it had already been established. When he checked whether the declarations had been submitted, it turned out that two of the board members had not submitted theirs even at the time of joining.

«This girl has nothing to do with it at all (referring to adviser Yuliia Mincheva, — note). The case was opened following my complaint. Both Chairwoman Anna Montavon and Bjørn Kaare Jensen were appointed by the city council. We were simply informed that the Supervisory Board had been established. And they were required to submit declarations whilst still candidates for the position. Neither Montavon nor Bjørn submitted declarations. This should have been monitored by the Financial Control Department of the Mykolaiv City Council. I asked why they hadn’t submitted declarations. I was told that they didn’t have to do so because they are foreigners. And that was already a breach. The city council needs to be held to account here,» said Ihor Bloshko.

In 2025, according to Ihor Bloshko, he officially notified the members of the Supervisory Board twice by email of the need to submit declarations.

«A new declaration process comes into effect on 1 January. I officially warned them twice via email to submit their declarations, as I oversee this process at the water utility. The last time I said on 31 March: «Today is the last day to submit your declaration. Please submit your asset declarations». I checked on 1 April; two had not submitted them. And then, during a video conference meeting, I asked again: «Why haven’t you submitted your declarations? I will be forced to take action on this,» the official noted.

After the deadline for submitting declarations had passed, he contacted the law enforcement agencies.

«I don’t have any of their details on the water utility’s system at all; I couldn’t find them. Just a name. No passport number, no address, nothing in the personnel records, nothing anywhere. I even had trouble reporting it to the NACP and the police. I wrote in my statement requesting that the law enforcement agencies establish their full personal details, open criminal proceedings for failure to submit a declaration and, once the full personal details were available, additionally notify the NACP of the opening of criminal proceedings. I attached two emails to my statement, in which I had informed them of the need to submit a declaration. They deliberately ignored them,» he said.

As it emerged yesterday, the chair of the Supervisory Board of «Mykolaivvodokanal», Hanna Montavon, wrote to the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, requesting that Yuliia Mincheva be removed from the implementation of corporate governance at the company. The appeal states that during the formation of the Supervisory Board, Mincheva allegedly assured the foreign members of the body that they were not obliged to submit declarations in Ukraine. The police are currently investigating this matter.

Later, Yuliia Mincheva, an external adviser to the Mayor of Mykolaiv, responded to the allegations made by Hanna Montavon, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivvodokanal». She stated that she was not responsible for overseeing the declaration process.

Supervisory Board of the water utility

The municipal enterprise «Mykolaivvodokanal» became the first municipal enterprise to have a supervisory board. This is a collegial body that exercises strategic control over the enterprise’s activities, approves key management decisions and financial plans, and evaluates the work of the management. It does not interfere in operational activities, influences the appointment and evaluation of the director, but will not dismiss or hire staff at other levels.

The decision to establish supervisory boards in Mykolaiv’s municipal enterprises was adopted in 2024 as part of corporate governance reform. Yuliia Mincheva, an external adviser to the Mayor of Mykolaiv, noted that the supervisory boards would nevertheless be a governing body, rather than an advisory one, with responsibility for the decisions taken. They will bear both legal and financial responsibility for their actions.

In January 2025, a competition was announced to select independent members, and on 29 May 2025, its composition was approved by the city council.

The supervisory board of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivvodokanal» comprises five members, including:

1. Andrii Haidutskyi (Ukraine), Doctor of Economics, Master of International Economic Relations (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv) and MBA specialising in strategy and corporate governance (KDI School, South Korea).

2. Andrii Yefimov (Ukraine), Master of Banking, with over 20 years of professional experience in finance, risk management and corporate governance.

3. Serhii Shklyar (Ukraine), Doctor of Law, specialist in international law (Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv) and business economics.

4. Bjørn Kaare Jensen (Denmark), a European expert in water management with nearly 40 years of professional and executive experience.

5. Hanna Montavon (Germany), founder and director of Mykolaiv Water Hub, a lawyer with international experience specialising in water infrastructure, public-private partnerships and legal support for municipal development.

In fact, a month ago in May, the Supervisory Board of the municipal enterprise officially approached the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption with a request to conduct an unscheduled inspection.