People's Deputy Dyrdin has accused the authorities in Pervomaisk of losing a €15 million grant; the town hall has claimed that the allegations are fabricated

Maksym Dyrdin, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament. Photo from the NikVesti archive

MP Maksym Dyrdin has accused the leadership of Pervomaisk of derailing a €15 million project to achieve energy independence for the local water utility. The city council has rejected these accusations and described the project as financially risky for the community.

On Facebook, Maksym Dyrdin spoke about the unsuccessful cooperation between the Pervomaisk City Council and international partners.

According to Maksym Dyrdin, the city lost the opportunity to attract €15 million in investment from Lithuanian and Polish partners. The People's Deputy claims that the investors were ready to finance the construction of a 15 MW solar power plant, and the city was only required to allocate a plot of land and provide the technical conditions for connection.

Advertising

He also published a video in which he is allegedly speaking with Lithuanian friends about the failed project.

«Who provided the funding? The Lithuanian side took out a loan in their own name and pledged their own property as collateral. The Polish side provided the financial aspect, whilst Lithuania supplied the equipment and materials. What was asked of the city? Pervomaisk was required to do just one thing — provide a plot of land for a solar power station (with a planned capacity of 15 MW) and ensure the technical conditions for connection,» writes Dyrdin.

He states that once the project had paid for itself, the power station was to become the property of the community, which would have reduced the water utility’s electricity costs and influenced the water tariff.

Screenshot from a video posted on Maksym Dyrdin’s Facebook page

According to Maksym Dyrdin, the project was derailed due to the stance taken by the city authorities. In particular, he claims that investors were offered an unsuitable plot of land, that the process of approving documents was dragged out, and that the authorities ultimately refused to sign the necessary agreements.

«Negotiations began back in April. It took six months to sort out the land-related paperwork (city councillors were making decisions and voting). The Lithuanian partners came to Pervomaisk on 3–4 October 2025 for an official meeting with the mayor. However, as the investors themselves noted: ‘We realised that this was just some sort of game, a charade with no intention of achieving a result’. Instead of a business-like approach, the first question that arose among the city’s leadership was: ‘What’s in it for us?’», notes Maksym Dyrdin in his post.

The executive committee of the Pervomaisk City Council has responded to the deputy's statements. On their official Facebook page, they stated that the information provided by the people's deputy was distorted.

«Recently, Maksym Dyrdin has been actively attempting to shift the blame for the lack of tangible results from his own work onto the leadership of Pervomaisk. The main tool of his PR campaign has been the so-called ‘failed €15 million water utility energy independence project’. Accusations are being actively circulated online against Mayor Oleh Demchenko and officials who allegedly ‘chased away the benefactors’,» the statement reads.

The city council notes that the project was not grant aid or a free investment — it involved a loan mechanism, and the total amount of financial obligations could have reached 30 million euros.

«There was no ‘real’ money, no grants or non-repayable financial injections whatsoever. Instead of free aid, the city was offered a draconian loan, which ultimately amounted not to 15 but to 30 million euros. Most importantly, this agreement provided for joint and several liability. This means that in the event of any force majeure, military action or financial insolvency of the private investor, the obligation to repay this massive European debt would automatically fall on the shoulders of the Pervomaisk community and be paid for out of the pockets of ordinary Pervomaisk residents,» the post states.

The Pervomaisk City Council also notes that the solar power plant could only become the property of the city 10–15 years after the project had paid for itself. Furthermore, they assert that the city council’s lawyers sent official enquiries to the investors regarding the terms of cooperation and potential risks, but allegedly received no replies. The city authorities also reject accusations of deliberately providing an unsuitable plot of land.

«Instead of providing the community with official project and cost estimate documentation, technical specifications agreed with the Ministry of Energy, and a clear, legally sound text of the tripartite agreement, Maksym Dyrdin offers people ‘video evidence of conversations’. However, it is obvious to any lawyer: conversations in offices or in front of cameras with foreign guests are merely a declaration of intent, which has no legal force whatsoever,» the city council states.

It should be noted that none of the parties has yet published any documents regarding the project, nor any financial calculations, loan terms or technical conclusions.

Earlier, Halyna Davydova, editor-in-chief of «Gard.City», stated that the mayor of Pervomaisk had groundlessly accused her of working for the so-called «boss». According to her, this happened on 1 June during a rally by veterans in Pervomaisk, who were expressing their disagreement with the procedure for granting combatant status.

However, the mayor of Pervomaisk, Oleh Demchenko, denies that there was any conflict between him and Halyna Davydova, editor-in-chief of the local publication «Gard.City». At the same time, commenting on her claim of defamation, he said that the journalist «knows where her bosses are and who is in charge of her».