Construction work on «Animal Island» at Mykolaiv Zoo is scheduled to be completed by mid-December

The «Island of Animals» enclosure complex at Mykolaiv Zoo, screenshot from a video by Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych/Facebook

Construction work on the summer enclosures of the «Animal Island» complex at Mykolaiv Zoo is scheduled to be completed by 10–15 December.

This was discussed during a staff meeting on 9 November, according to NikVesti.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych enquired about the progress of the complex’s construction. His deputy, Serhii Korenev, explained that work is continuing, but for some time the contractor had been unable to receive payment due to delays in treasury payments.

«Work is moving forward. It was slowed down slightly because payments from the Treasury weren’t going through. We expect to finish by 10–15 December,» said Serhii Korenev.

As is well known, defects on «Animal Island» — which had arisen even before the start of the full-scale war during the construction of the enclosures — were to be rectified. The Capital Construction Department (CCD) announced a tender in May 2026 for this work, valued at 4.3 million hryvnias.

«Animal Island» at the zoo

Construction of the «Island of Beasts» complex began in 2020. The first tender was won by the Odesa-based company «Inzh-Stroi» LLC, which at the time had only one successful project to its name — the repair of an angiograph at a hospital in Mykolaiv. The work on the enclosures was estimated at 19.4 million hryvnias.

The «Island of Beasts» summer enclosure complex at Mykolaiv Zoo was scheduled to open in September 2021. In the winter of that same year, the then director of the City Council’s Capital Construction Department, Oleksandr Pozdniakov, announced the completion of the summer enclosures.

At the same time, it emerged that the zoo lacked sufficient staff to maintain the newly built «Animal Island» complex. Consequently, the zoo’s director, Volodymyr Topchyi, submitted a request to the city council asking to be allowed to hire four more staff members.

In December 2021, it emerged that a further 4.9 million hryvnias were to be spent on the construction of the «Animal Island» enclosure complex.

The city authorities are using the DREAM system to seek a donor who would provide funding for the major refurbishment of the glass roof of the «Animal Island» building. The cost of the project already drawn up for this work amounts to 179,900 hryvnias.