Kiseliova criticised the pace of planning for shelters in schools in Mykolaiv

Olena Kiseliova, a councillor on the Mykolaiv City Council. Photo: NikVesti

Olena Kiseliova, a councillor on Mykolaiv City Council, has criticised the pace of the design work for school bomb shelters being carried out by the Capital Construction Department.

She made these remarks during a City Council session today, 9 July, according to NikVesti.

«I ask that the executive authorities exercise greater oversight regarding the timelines for designing bomb shelters in educational establishments, with a view to securing some form of grant for next year,» said Olena Kiseliova.

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The councillor then cited the example of one of the city’s schools, for which the Capital Construction Department had signed a contract with a contractor two years ago — in August 2024 — to draw up plans for the construction of a bomb shelter.

«What did I come across? There is an educational institution. I discovered that the Capital Construction Department has been working on the design of a bomb shelter since 2024. To be more precise, this work is being carried out by the contractor with whom a contract was signed in August 2024,» said Olena Kiseliova.

However, she noted, there is still no expert assessment of the project to date, which is why the city cannot submit this project for potential funding from the state budget.

«As things stand, there is still no expert assessment. I’m not even talking about what might actually be built there. Without an expert assessment, we cannot submit the project, nor can we even apply in any way for the grant that the state provides for the construction of these air-raid shelters.

I have a question. I fully realise that we will not be starting construction next year. God willing, we will be able to submit the project and apply to be included in this grant scheme,» said Olena Kiseliova.

It should be noted that the Mykolaiv Capital Construction Department has once again shown a negative trend in the use of budget funds. This is evidenced by data on the use of Mykolaiv’s budget as at 1 July, published on the city council’s official website and analysed by the editorial team at NikVesti.

According to the results for 2025, 92.3 million hryvnias remained unspent, which the Capital Construction Department was supposed to spend on capital expenditure, namely repairs, reconstruction and the acquisition of fixed assets.

Commenting on the 2025 budget implementation figures in January, Mykolaiv’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stated that the Capital Construction Department had been unable to spend part of the budget due to problems with contractors. The Capital Construction Department, however, stated at the time that their work should not be judged by the low budget implementation rate.

It was previously reported that the Mykolaiv City Council’s Education Department required an additional 60 million hryvnias to provide meals for children in the city’s nurseries. As of today, there is only enough money left to cover meals for two more days, stated Hanna Lychko during a staff meeting at the mayor’s office on 6 July.