Almost ₴19 million is set to be spent on meals in Mykolaiv’s nurseries in December
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- Yuliia BoichenkoReporter
Children sitting at a table during a meal. Illustrative photo: ZnaimoIn Mykolaiv, there are plans to spend nearly ₴19 million on meals for children in 43 nurseries and a special school for children with visual impairments. The services are being procured for a single month — from 1 to 31 December 2026.
This is according to data from the ProZorro e-procurement system, as reported by NikVesti.
The estimated cost of the procurement is ₴18,943,655 excluding VAT. With these funds, the contractor is to organise three meals a day for children at 44 educational establishments in the city.
According to the documentation, the contract is calculated for 113,505 child-days. This does not refer to the number of children, but to the total number of days of meals: for example, if one child eats at a nursery for ten days, this is counted as ten child-days.
Of the total, 25,193 child-days are allocated for children under the age of four, and a further 86,240 for older pre-schoolers. A separate allocation of 2,072 child-days was made for pupils in the pre-school section of the Mykolaiv Special School for Children with Visual Impairments.
What will be included in the cost of meals?
The contractor must not only purchase food and prepare meals, but also ensure the food preparation areas are kept to a proper standard of hygiene, and maintain and repair kitchen equipment.
In addition, they must cover the costs of electricity, water, heating and gas used during food preparation. If generators have to be used due to power cuts, the service provider will also cover the cost of fuel.
The menu must take into account the children’s ages, the seasonality of produce and any special dietary requirements. Separate four-week menus are provided for different age groups, which must comply with the nutritional standards set by the state.
The number of children to be fed each day will be determined based on actual attendance at the facilities. Therefore, the volume of services may vary. The documentation also states that the procurement amount may be reduced depending on the actual funding available.
Bids from tenderers will be accepted until 1 November 2026. The winner will be determined based on the bid price.
It should be recalled that in May 2026, it emerged that Mykolaiv’s budget was short of nearly 150 million hryvnias to provide meals for children in schools, nurseries and vocational colleges until the end of 2026. The city council’s education department stated that funds for meals in nurseries would only last until 20 June.
Subsequently, 60 million hryvnias were allocated for meals in nurseries. This money was expected to last until October.
However, according to the Education Department’s calculations, the city would need a further nearly 150 million hryvnias by the end of the year: over 109 million hryvnias for nurseries, over 33 million hryvnias to co-fund school meals, and a further 7 million hryvnias for special schools and vocational education institutions.
However, the city council acknowledged that such funds were not available in the budget. Consequently, the city was preparing an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers requesting an additional state subsidy.
