Sienkevych stated that a NikVesti journalist «does not walk the talk» and that no funds were spent on Panchenko's pavement. Where is the truth?

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, reacted sharply to a comment by a journalist from NikVesti regarding the priorities of the city authorities, who undertook the construction of an expensive pavement across the entire Soliany microdistrict, while at the same time, for the last 10 years or so, the culvert across the Inhul River, which supplied water to this microdistrict, had been in a critical condition.

This was discussed during the mayor's press conference, which took place yesterday, 13 January.

Oleksandr Senkevich, mayor of Mykolaiv, photo NikVesti

As is known, a few days ago, there was an accident on the culvert that supplied water to the Soliany, Pivnichnyi, and Ternivka neighbourhoods, as a result of which 40,000 residents were left without water supply and sewage systems. The city authorities organised water delivery to the neighbourhoods and promised to carry out temporary repairs by 18 January. However, the major repair of the culvert — in fact, the construction of a new one — will cost about 50 million hryvnias, which the city authorities want to obtain from donors, in particular, they are negotiating with the Danish Refugee Council. The problem with the critical condition of the culvert has been known since at least 2017, but, as Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said, until today there was no critical need for it.

«Why isn't this a priority? The city is allocating 16 million to build a pavement in the Soliany neighbourhood, but can't find a little more money to build a new culvert in the same neighbourhood?» asked NikVesti journalist Kateryna Sereda.

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In response, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych accused the journalist of not walking her talk.

«Why is the city allocating funds? Where are you... Kateryna, what 16 million? Just tell us so that we all know. Are you responsible for your words? That the city is allocating 16 million?» asked Oleksandr Sienkevych.

«Of course... Maybe it's 18 million,» said the journalist.

«You don't walk the talk. Okay, let's check how much money was spent on the pavement this year,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The journalist, in turn, said that two additional agreements had already been concluded with the contractor and that work on the construction of the pavement had been extended until February this year.

«Is there any money?» asked the mayor of Mykolaiv.

«The work is ongoing,» replied Kateryna Sereda.

«Well, you say so. How much money was allocated in 2026 for additional agreements on the pavement? Zero,» said the mayor.

«I think 11 million has already been paid,» said Kateryna Sereda.

«Thank you. I will check this information. I will provide you with information on how much money has been spent on this project and what its total cost is,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Six months ago, during his last press conference, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych announced the construction of two kilometres of pavement across the entire Soliany neighbourhood. At that time, Oleksandr Sienkevych said that he had received a large number of requests from residents of the neighbourhood to renovate the pavement.

Part of the pavement in Solyani, which they decided to replace with tiles for 16 million hryvnias, photo NikVesti

On 1 August, following the results of a tender, the Department of Housing and Communal Services of the Mykolaiv City Council signed an agreement with the company «World of Architecture and Construction» for the major repair of the pavement along Heroes of Ukraine Avenue (odd side) from the pedestrian bridge over the Inhul River to the «ORION» bus station (Ternivske Ring). Inhul River to the ORION bus station (Ternivske Ring). The total amount of the contract was 16.8 million hryvnias. The work was to be completed by 28 November 2025, but two additional agreements were subsequently concluded with changes to the terms, and now the work must be completed by 25 February 2026.

According to the contract, the contractor will receive 16.8 million hryvnias for the new pavement on Heroes of Ukraine Avenue, screenshot from the document

According to the Ministry of Finance's resource Spending.gov.ua, in December, the Department of Housing and Communal Services transferred a total of 11 million 280 thousand hryvnias to the company «World of Architecture and Construction» for the repair of the pavement in seven payments, four of which were made by the Department of Housing and Communal Services in the last days of the budget year, namely on 24 December 2025. The balance of unpaid funds under the contract is 5.5 million hryvnias.

The Department of Housing and Communal Services has already paid over 11 million hryvnias for the repair of the sidewalk in Soliany, screenshot from Spending.gov.ua

In addition to the cost of the sidewalk construction work itself, there are also cumulative costs associated with the preparation of design and estimate documentation, technical supervision, and author supervision. Therefore, the total cost of the sidewalk along Heroes of Ukraine Avenue will be 18 million 35 thousand hryvnias.

The ideological inspiration behind the construction of the new pavement along the entire Solyani neighbourhood is Fedir Panchenko, a deputy from the Propozytsia party and head of the city council's planning and budget committee. His constituency is located there. In general, according to him, the project also included the construction of a bicycle path and playgrounds, but this would have brought the cost to over 40 million hryvnias, Fedir Panchenko said in a comment to NikVesti in August 2025.

As of now, 40,000 residents of Soliany remain without water and sewage, but with an unfinished sidewalk, on which 11.2 million hryvnias have already been spent. Sanitation work to restore the temporary operation of the emergency culvert is ongoing, according to the Mykolaiv City Council.

Employees of the water utility and the company VIK Technologies are repairing the emergency culvert, photo by the press service of the Mykolaiv City Council

Earlier it was reported that the emergency culvert in the Soliany microdistrict of Mykolaiv, which left more than 40,000 residents without water, was not repaired due to a lack of funds and the absence of «extreme need».