Kim is dissatisfied with the attendance of Mykolaiv councillors at council meetings

Vitalii Kim, Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration and a member of the City Council, during a session. Photo: NikVesti

Vitalii Kim, Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration and a member of the city council, criticised the attendance of councillors at the session and the problems with a lack of votes to pass decisions.

He made these remarks today, 30 April, during the session, according to NikVesti.

In particular, this was discussed during the vote on changing the structure of the executive bodies, which had to be restarted several times due to a lack of votes. The vote passed by the narrowest of margins — the minimum number of votes required for adoption, namely 28.

Advertising

Vitalii Kim emphasised that the issue of approving the structure of the executive bodies is essential for the City Council’s future work, and therefore urged councillors not to delay the process and to support the draft resolution.

«I too ask you to support and vote in favour, because, as I understand it, some councillors do not want to vote, and there are those who are sabotaging the process. But this is a technical matter to unblock the work of the city council. I ask you to set aside political or personal ambitions and support this structure. Let’s put this matter to rest so that the city council can function,» noted Vitalii Kim.

«We can make changes in the future, adding or adjusting individual departments. This is not a final decision,» replied Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Later, Vitalii Kim noted that the minimum number of votes casts doubt on the effectiveness of the city council’s work.

«If we have 29 councillors in the chamber and 28 votes are needed for a decision, but two more don’t turn up — what then? Can we dissolve the city council? It’s not right when a single vote effectively decides everything in the city,» he said.

«It’s long overdue (to dissolve the city council, — note), as far back as 2022,» city councillor Olena Kiseliova exclaimed in response.

It should be noted that the Mykolaiv City Council voted to approve changes to the structure of the executive bodies on its fourth attempt. Previously, councillors had failed to support the decision on three occasions.

As a reminder, in February, Mykolaiv City Council councillors were again unable to pass a resolution approving the new structure of the executive bodies. The draft provided for the introduction of a separate body responsible for the protection of cultural heritage.

In March, lawyers at the city hall warned of the threat of a collapse in the structure of Mykolaiv City Council due to a number of unadopted decisions necessary for the final restructuring.

What Sienkevych proposes in the new structure of the Mykolaiv City Council

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych presented a draft of the new structure of the executive bodies back in April, which was developed in accordance with the recommendations of an Ernst & Young audit. The new structure provides for a reduction in the number of chief administrators, as well as the liquidation and consolidation of departments. However, the city council is currently unable to say by how much the staffing levels of executive bodies and the costs of maintaining them will be reduced.

Draft of the new structure of Mykolaiv’s executive bodies, presented in April 2025, screenshot from the mayor’s presentation

Meanwhile, the draft of the new structure of the Mykolaiv City Council’s executive bodies provides for an increase in the number of deputy mayors to seven. There are plans to create the post of deputy mayor for digitalisation.

The draft of the new structure of the executive bodies of the Mykolaiv City Council provides for a curtailment of the powers of district administrations, which will cease to be the main administrators of funds. This was publicly criticised by the heads of two districts, who are also councillors: Oleksandr Bereza and Hanna Remennikova.

At the same time, it was reported that Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych believes that councillors should not combine representative and executive functions, and therefore should not hold positions in the city council’s executive bodies.