The director of the regional heating company stated that former deputy mayor Omelchuk had misled the councillors, and that the technology park he had set up was a fraud

Mykola Lohvinov, Director of Mykolaivoblteploenergo, photo: NikVesti

Mykola Lohvinov, Director of the regional heating and power company, has accused former Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Omelchuk of falsifying documents relating to the «Energiia» industrial park. He claims that the city council effectively ‘seized’ the land by imposing the park’s boundaries on plots that had previously been allocated to residents for vegetable gardens.

As a result, the city was unable to implement part of the solar power plant construction project there and was forced to amend the terms of an international grant.

He made this statement on 9 April during a session of the Mykolaiv City Council, according to NikVesti.

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According to Mykola Lohvinov, the city signed a grant agreement worth €7.2 million last July for the construction of a solar power plant. Initially, the project was planned to be implemented on three plots, including within the «Energiia» industrial park.

However, during the preparation of the feasibility study, it emerged that there were legal claims regarding this territory relating to land squatting.

«When we began developing the feasibility study, it turned out that the «Energiia» industrial park is a fiction, as there are illegally occupied plots of land within its territory. Furthermore, many years ago, the Zhovtneva District Administration allocated part of this territory to a horticultural society, so construction there is currently impossible. The park itself effectively exists only as a set of documents, and there are also court rulings and lawsuits against the city council regarding this land,» stated Mykola Lohvinov.

Because of this, he said, it was decided to combine three projects into one and build a 9.9 MW solar power station on a single 25-hectare plot in the Korabelnyi district, which the company has leased from the city.

Mykola Lohvinov added that tender procedures are currently underway, and a tender to select a designer and contractor is planned for May.

At the end of the discussion, councillor Olena Kiseliova raised the issue of officials’ responsibility for the situation regarding the industrial park.

«Is Mykola Lohvinov still on the line? Can we resolve the issue of the director’s bonus? For example, as a percentage — to avoid situations such as the one we have just discussed. We have to start somewhere, don’t we?» suggested Olena Kiseliova.

In response, Mykola Lohvinov stated that, in his opinion, it was the former deputy mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Omelchuk, who had misled the city council.

«Firstly, it wasn’t my initiative. And secondly, this question should be put to Omelchuk. Oleksandr Omelchuk (former deputy mayor of Mykolaiv, — note) misled the city council and the councillors and prepared a package of documents regarding the «Energiia» industrial park, the implementation of which was impossible. This became clear as early as last autumn,» he said.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych replied that the city authorities would look into the situation and report back on the findings.

It should be recalled that in March 2024, the Mykolaiv «Energiia» industrial park was removed from the official register due to a lack of activity reports. Since 2018, it had been located in the Korabelny district and occupied a plot of land measuring 36 hectares.