Mykolaiv is set to receive ₴449.5 million in educational grants by the end of the year
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- Yuliia BoichenkoReporter
Pupils at Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 55 during face-to-face lessons. Photo: ‘NikVesti’Mykolaiv is set to receive 449.5 million hryvnias in educational grants from the state budget for the last four months of 2026.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the relevant allocation by a resolution dated 31 August, according to NikVesti.
In total, local authorities in the Mykolaiv region will receive over 1 billion hryvnias in educational grants. The largest sum has been earmarked for Mykolaiv itself — 449.5 million hryvnias — whilst the regional budget will receive a further 166.6 million hryvnias.
Among the region’s other local authorities, the largest amounts will go to Pervomaisk — 82.5 million hryvnias, Voznesensk — 56.3 million, Pivdennoukrainsk — 49 million, Kryvoozersk — 42.4 million and Bashtanka — 39.2 million hryvnias.
In total, the Cabinet of Ministers has allocated 57.4 billion hryvnias in education grants to local budgets across the country.
An education grant is funding that the state transfers to local budgets to finance the salaries of teaching staff, in particular teachers at general secondary schools. In other words, this does not cover individual school renovations, the purchase of equipment or school meals — other sources and budget programmes are provided for such expenditure.
There is a shortfall in Mykolaiv’s budget. What is known?
As a reminder, six months ago the Mykolaiv City Council appealed to the government and the Verkhovna Rada requesting an additional grant from the state budget for the city. According to the city authorities’ calculations, the city’s own budget revenue for 2026 covers only 82.5 per cent of actual needs, whilst the funding shortfall exceeds 1.14 billion hryvnias.
Back at the start of the year, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych reported that the Ministry of Finance would analyse Mykolaiv’s financial situation to assess the city’s need for additional funding. At the same time, he emphasised that the final decision depends not only on the Ministry of Finance’s calculations but also on the political will of parliament.
According to the mayor, the city has not yet received an official response to its request. During Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko’s most recent visit to Mykolaiv, he raised this issue once again. According to Oleksandr Sienkevych, the request was forwarded to the Ministry of Finance, which is continuing to analyse the city’s budget.
In the absence of additional funding, the city is already preparing to reallocate its own funds. In particular, this concerns providing free meals for children in schools and nurseries.
«We will have to see where we can free up and reallocate funds for children’s meals. But this is a critical situation. No matter how much we reallocate, it won’t create any more money. By the end of the year, there will be nothing left,» concluded Oleksandr Sienkevych.
Earlier, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that Mykolaiv’s budget for 2026 is a «survival budget» and does not cover all the community’s needs. According to him, the city lacks the funds to implement the state-initiated pay rise for teachers, to pay for utilities, to repair roads and to cover other expenses.
