The Pivdennoukrainsk City Council has stated that it has one more day to secure a €5.2 million grant from Denmark

The Pivdennoukrainsk City Council has announced that it has extended the deadline for signing a grant agreement with Denmark. Photo: Pivdennoukrainsk City Council

The South Ukrainian City Council has announced that it has held talks with the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) and that the deadline for signing the agreement to secure a grant of €5.25 million has been extended to 16 June inclusive. A City Council session is currently scheduled for that day.

This was reported by the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council in response to a request from NikVesti.

The draft decision on securing a grant for the reconstruction of sewage pumping stations and a pressure pipeline in Pivdennoukrainsk states that the grant amount to be allocated by Denmark through NEFCO will amount to up to €5.25 million. The Pivdennoukrainsk City Council is to provide at least €585,000 in co-financing.

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According to the draft decision, the reconstruction of the KNS-2 and KNS-3 sewage pumping stations is planned, including the installation of solar panels and batteries, as well as the construction of a pressure domestic sewage system from KNS-3 to the Tashlyk Reservoir.

It should be noted that on 13 May, a draft resolution was published designating Mayor Valerii Onufriienko as the authorised representative for signing documents and carrying out other actions relating to the NEFCO grant, and, in his absence, City Council Secretary Denys Kravchenko and First Deputy Mayor Mykola Pokrov.

Today, 15 June, a new draft was published, granting the authority to sign documents to the mayor and his deputy. However, the mayor must also be required to immediately issue a power of attorney granting the right to represent the interests of the city council and to carry out all actions relating to the grant to the first deputy mayor, Mykola Pokrov.

The clause regarding the co-financing of the grant has also been clarified. The May draft decision stated that co-financing was to be provided for in 2027.

«To ensure that the budget of the Pivdennoukrainsk urban territorial community provides for the allocation of funds to co-finance the project «Reconstruction of wastewater pumping stations and pressure pipelines»… in the amount of 10% of the total project cost, as determined by the financial agreement, and to ensure that funds are allocated when drawing up the budget of the South Ukrainian urban territorial community for 2027,» the draft decision states.

Draft decision on securing a grant dated 13 May. Screenshot

Draft decision on securing a grant dated 13 May. Screenshot

There is now no information regarding 2027 in the draft resolution.

«To undertake to allocate co-financing for the implementation of the project «Reconstruction of two wastewater pumping stations and a pressure sewer collector in Pivdennoukrainsk» in the amount of no less than 585,000 euros, ensuring that funds are allocated when drawing up (adjusting) the budget of the Pivdennoukrainsk municipal territorial community,» reads the new draft decision.

Draft decision on securing the grant dated 15 June. Screenshot

Draft decision on securing a grant dated 15 June. Screenshot

Regarding clarification of the deadline for adopting the decision — by 15 June — the city council noted that NEFCO had extended the deadline by one day.

«Failure by the South Ukrainian City Council to adopt, by 15 June (the deadline specified in the letter from NEFCO), a decision on securing a grant to finance the project ‘Reconstruction of wastewater pumping stations and pressure pipeline’ will make it impossible to sign the grant agreement and will result in the community losing its right to receive grant funds amounting to €5.25 million for the implementation of the said project. At the same time, given the circumstances in the community and following negotiations with NEFCO on 10 June, an agreement has been reached to extend the deadline for making the relevant decision until 16 June inclusive,» the city council reported.

Response to a request from NikVesti from the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council

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 the 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.

In addition, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, submitted documents to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requesting the establishment of a municipal military administration in Pivdennoukrainsk.

In June, following the postponement of meetings by City Council Secretary Denys Kravchenko, councillors convened a session themselves. The main issue that needed to be agreed upon on 12 June specifically was granting consent to receive a grant from Denmark via NEFCO for the reconstruction of the sewage pumping stations and pressure pipeline system in Pivdennoukrainsk.

However, the councillors were unable to meet because, according to them, the meeting had not been organised: the city council secretary had taken the keys to the meeting room and the councillors were denied access to the voting system.