Councillors have called an extraordinary meeting in Pivdennoukrainsk on their own initiative: the town risks losing a grant from Denmark
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- Julia LukyanenkoReporter
Pivdennoukrainsk City Council. Photo: NikVestiFollowing further postponements of the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council session, a group of councillors has appealed to the City Council secretary to convene the session on 12 June. If the city council does not approve the receipt of a €5 million grant from Denmark today, South Ukraine may lose it.
This was reported in a comment to NikVesti by Olena Petryna, a councillor of the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council.
It should be noted that the city council secretary, Denys Kravchenko, signed an order postponing the session from 11 to 16 June and holding it via videoconference.
However, an initiative group of 13 councillors appealed to the City Council secretary to convene an extraordinary session. The decision was registered with the executive committee, forwarded to the mayor and the city council secretary, and published on the city council’s information board.
«The councillors exercised the right provided for in Part 10 of Article 46 of the Law of Ukraine «On Local Self-Government in Ukraine»: if a session is not convened by council officials within two weeks at the request of at least one-third of the councillors, the councillors themselves may convene it. As stated in the initiative group’s decision, the city council secretary, Denys Kravchenko, through five orders — dated 13 May, 20 May, 27 May, 4 June and 10 June 2026 — successively postponed the session, finally scheduling it for 16 June,» reads the justification for convening the session, published by the Pivdennoukrainsk Territorial Defence group.
The initiative group submitted documents to convene the session. Photo: Pivdennoukrainsk Territorial Defence
The initiative group submitted documents to convene the session. Photo: Pivdennoukrainsk Territorial Defence
The initiative group has submitted documents to convene the session. Photo: Pivdennoukrainsk Territorial DefenceThere are many issues on the agenda, including amendments to the budget and the reorganisation of the hospital in Pivdennoukrainsk, where the maternity ward is being closed.
«The City Council Secretary noted that there is no need to convene an extraordinary session on these issues, as they are already included on the agenda for the session that was due to take place on 11 June. Given that he postponed it again the day before yesterday to 16 June, i.e. after the 15th, and we are required to make a decision by 15 June so that the community can receive a grant from NEFCO, and as we had previously submitted a request to convene a session, we are convening it ourselves as an initiative group,» commented Olena Petryna.
Pivdennoukrainsk City Council councillor Olena Petryna. Photo: City Council websiteThe deadline for holding the session on 12 June is specifically linked to the need to approve a grant from Denmark, which it will allocate through NEFCO. We are talking about €5.2 million for a project to reconstruct wastewater pumping stations and a pressure pipeline in Pivdennoukrainsk. If the city council does not approve the grant by 15 June, the city will lose it.
«We phoned NEFCO representatives and they said that even 15 June would be too late, as their manager is going on holiday and there will be no one to sign off on it. Our deadline was either Thursday or today, 12 June,» explained Olena Petryna.
In order for the initiative group to hold a meeting today, 12 June, the city council’s executive bodies must organise it, in particular by ensuring access to the voting system.
«In order to hold this session, the executive bodies and all departments responsible for ensuring the session runs smoothly must organise it. However, as far as I am aware at present, the city council secretary has instructed that our decision not be published and that it be left unconsidered until the issue regarding the councillors who are military personnel, and who are also mentioned in that appeal, has been clarified. The appeal was agreed upon by telephone with the military personnel. They were also required to send statements to the city council confirming their support for the appeal. They will participate in the meeting via video conference, as permitted by the rules of procedure,» added the councillor.
She believes that councillors have the right to hold a meeting if it is not convened by the mayor or the city council secretary and there are urgent matters to be addressed.
— That is why I believe that, as things stand today, we are fully entitled to hold the session independently without the mayor, as he is on sick leave, or the city council secretary; but will the relevant departments and management provide us with this opportunity... You do realise that we cannot hold it ourselves in accordance with the procedure laid down in our rules of procedure, as we will not have access to the council system, and a show of hands would be a breach of the rules. But as far as I am aware today, there is even an instruction not to publish our decision,’ noted councillor Olena Petrina.
Government crisis in Pivdennoukrainsk
As a reminder, in 2025 in Pivdennoukrainsk, city council members were unable to convene for several consecutive sessions, meaning the city still did not have an approved budget for 2026. Consequently, Mayor Valerii Onufriienko appealed to the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, requesting the establishment of a military administration in the Pivdennoukrainsk municipal territorial community.
Since February 2026, councillors have again been unable to convene for a session.
The councillor stated that there are plans to establish a military administration in Pivdennoukrainsk. According to him, «Energoatom», the Office of the President and the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration are intervening in this process to control the budget.
Earlier, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, said that he saw no legal grounds for introducing a military administration in Pivdennoukrainsk at the request of Mayor Valerii Onufriienko, but that the matter would still be investigated.
Heorhii Reshetilov, deputy head of the Regional State Administration, also explained that the decision to establish a military administration is taken by the president, and for this there must be grounds clearly defined by law. This must either be linked to military consequences or the suspension of local self-government bodies.
In May 2026, the mayor of Pivdennoukrainsk, Valerii Onufriienko, told NikVesti that there is currently a need to introduce a military administration in the city.
As of the end of May, Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, had already submitted the necessary documents. The decision must be finally approved by the president.
