A working group of councillors has backed the purchase of premises to serve as a shelter for the «Academy of Children’s Creativity» in Mykolaiv
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- Julia LukyanenkoReporter
The working group believes that premises should be purchased to serve as a shelter for the Academy of Children’s Creativity. Illustrative photo: NikVestiA working group at Mykolaiv City Council has examined the possibility of purchasing premises to serve as a shelter for the Mykolaiv Lyceum «Children’s Creativity Academy». Councillors believe the premises should be purchased, so funds need to be allocated for this in the city budget. However, next year’s budget may be limited.
This was discussed during the Mykolaiv City Council session on 6 November, according to NikVesti.
Councillor Olena Kiseliova («European Solidarity») recalled that the working group had analysed the possibility of purchasing the premises to set up a shelter for the Academy of Children’s Creativity.
«We are awaiting one more report, but I think it will be positive. The possibility of such a purchase has been supported and deemed viable,» the councillor noted.
However, the main issue is funding. She requested that a formal instruction be issued to the mayor to ensure that funds are allocated in next year’s city budget for the purchase of premises to serve as a shelter.
Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych pointed out that the allocation of the budget is decided not only by him, but by the entire city council. At present, the city budget is short of 819 million hryvnias. Appeals to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada have yielded no results.
«No one is responding in any way. I attended a meeting with the newly appointed Prime Minister. The Minister of Finance was also present at this meeting. I was the second mayor to speak. Some people raised questions about delays in payments by the Treasury. I said that we would not have enough money to last until the end of this year. We saw no results from that meeting,» said the mayor.
He noted that Mykolaiv has 316 million hryvnias in capital expenditure this year, which includes the purchase of furniture and equipment for shelters. However, no major projects are planned for next year due to a lack of funds.
«What worries me, and what I’m very afraid of, is that we won’t have any capital expenditure at all next year. That is to say, so to speak, to finish off the projects we started this year. They are almost complete. We do not plan to initiate any other major new projects,» said the mayor.
Oleksandr Sienkevych noted that he would request funding be set aside for the purchase of a shelter. However, it will be up to the city council councillors to decide how to allocate funds for next year.
«Of course, I will ask the Department of Education to ensure, through the Asset Management Department, the purchase of the shelter proposed by the working group — that is, the simplest form of shelter — for the Academy of Children’s Creativity. We will then decide together where to take the funds from and where to allocate them. And I will certainly include this issue in the list of capital expenditure for the Department of Education, as per your instructions,» said the mayor.
As a reminder, the parents’ committee of the Academy of Children’s Creativity approached members of the Mykolaiv City Council to ask for their help in setting up a shelter in premises they had found nearby.
The premises in question are on Parkova Street and are being considered as the simplest possible shelter. A working group has been assessing whether these premises are suitable for this purpose; its findings will be of an advisory nature.
What is happening with funding for construction and repairs in Mykolaiv
In 2026, the Mykolaiv Capital Construction Department planned works at 29 sites, including school shelters, canteens, hospitals and sports facilities. Some of the works were scheduled to continue into 2027.
However, over the first nine months, the department spent 28.1 million hryvnias out of the 209.7 million planned for this period. This represents 13.4 per cent of the nine-month plan and less than 11 per cent of the department’s annual budget, which stood at nearly 260 million hryvnias.
Exactly 2.08 million hryvnias of the planned 54.4 million were spent directly on construction, whilst 8.33 million of the 104.36 million hryvnias were spent on major repairs. Problems with meeting the plan had arisen even before the Treasury’s payment delays in September.
Oleksandr Sienkevych attributed this to the late allocation of funding, protracted procurement processes, a shortage of staff among contractors, and errors in payment documentation. In particular, state funding for canteens and shelters was approved in March–April, whilst municipal co-funding was allocated in early June.
Subsequently, the situation was complicated by payment delays through the Treasury. Oleksii Savchuk, head of the Construction Management Department, reported that work certificates for the shelter at Lyceum №3 remained unpaid, amounting to approximately 6 million hryvnias. This created difficulties with the supply of equipment, as suppliers sometimes demanded full payment in advance.
According to Oleksii Savchuk, work on the shelters for Lyceums №3 and №38 was scheduled to be completed this year, with the facilities due to be commissioned in 2027. Oleksandr Sienkevych also explained that the possibility of allocating the remaining funds to the same works next year would depend on funding sources, the earmarking of funds and the relevant budgetary decisions.
On 29 October, councillors failed on two attempts to approve Mykolaiv’s budget forecast for 2027–2029. The Director of the Finance Department, Vira Sviatelyk, warned that the forecast indicates a shortfall in funds necessary for the stable functioning of the local authority.
