Sienkevych on the lawsuit with Ukrzaliznytsia: «If we counted the property for the army, it would be billions»

Oleksandr Sienkevych commented on the court case between Elektrotran and Ukrzaliznytsia over 72 tonnes of rails for hedgehogs. Photo: archive NikVesti

If the city began to count the property and equipment that was transferred or seized for military needs at the beginning of the full-scale war, it would amount to billions of hryvnias.

This opinion was expressed by Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych, commenting on the court case between the municipal enterprise Mykolaivelektrotrans and Ukrzaliznytsia regarding the rails from which anti-tank hedgehogs were made in 2022, according to NikVesti.

During a meeting with outdoor advertising operators in Mykolaiv last week, they discussed, among other things, the issue of possible compensation for advertising structures that were dismantled in 2022 to fortify the city's defences.

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Commenting on this, Oleksandr Sienkevych recalled that at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, the situation in Mykolaiv was critical, so equipment, machinery and other resources were quickly transferred to the military to set up defensive lines.

«The war began in 2022. Those who were in Mykolaiv know what the situation was like. Those who were not in Mykolaiv will not understand. We had a lot of events involving the seizure of a large amount of machinery, equipment and everything else for the army. If we were to put a price tag on the property seized from the city, it would be billions of hryvnias. But this will not happen, because it was done for the military, both with and without documents,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The mayor noted that a significant part of the property at that time was transferred for the urgent needs of the military — sometimes without all the paperwork.

According to the mayor, the Ukrzaliznytsia rails were in fact the only case where the seizure of property was documented, and that is why a legal dispute is now ongoing.

«There is only one case where we removed scrap metal, which is rails from Ukrzaliznytsia, with documents, and they are now suing us because, according to the official documents, they have acts of seizure of these rails,» he said.

He stressed that all the property seized in the city in 2022 was used for the construction of defensive structures.

«Everything else concerns the defence of the city of Mykolaiv, and the property that was there in 2022 was used for defensive structures, dugouts, and so on,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Some of these structures were later transferred to the military for further use in other areas. In particular, according to him, some of the anti-tank hedgehogs made from these rails are now in defensive positions in Kherson.

«Some of them have now been moved, like the Ukrzaliznytsia rails, and are currently located in Kherson, on the riverbank,» he said.

Oleksandr Sienkevych also assured that all the seized property was used exclusively for the defence of the city, and not for personal needs.

«My conscience allows me to tell you that, I'm sorry, but it didn't go to someone's dacha. Everything was used to create defensive structures and defensive lines for the city of Mykolaiv,» the mayor said.

We will remind you that Ukrzaliznytsia is demanding through the courts the return of 72 tonnes of rails, which were used to make anti-tank hedgehogs in Mykolaiv — Mykolaivelektrotrans will file an appeal.

As is known, at the beginning of the full-scale war, employees of the Mykolaivelektrotrans carriage repair workshop manufactured more than 200 anti-tank hedgehogs for the defence of Mykolaiv.

Read also the article by NikVesti: «Russian equipment was collected with tractors»: stories of Mykolaiv electric transport workers about working under shelling.