The mayor of Mykolaiv criticised the councillors: «If they’d carried on working like this, by 2022 we’d already be speaking Russian»

Oleksandr Sienkevych criticised councillors during the session on 24 September. Screenshot from the YouTube broadcast

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, criticised city councillors for dragging their feet on issues and failing to pass resolutions during the session. He stated that the city was losing time and opportunities because of the councillors’ approach.

He made these remarks during a discussion at the session on 24 September, according to NikVesti.

The mayor’s reaction was prompted by the protracted discussion regarding the termination of the powers of Hanna Montavon, chair of the supervisory board of «Mykolaivvodokanal». The councillors wanted not only to dismiss her, but also to record an unsatisfactory assessment of her performance because she had failed to attend the session to present her report. The motion regarding her unsatisfactory performance was supported by 21 councillors; however, the decision to change the composition of the supervisory board was not passed.

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Oleksandr Sienkevych urged councillors not to turn the matter into a personal conflict; nevertheless, the councillors continued to discuss Hanna Montavon’s unsatisfactory performance.

Following this, the mayor stated that he considered their work to be unproductive.

«I can see that today’s meeting, to put it diplomatically, has been unproductive. There was a question regarding the adoption of amendments to the housing and communal services programme; we got hung up on the figures in the programme, even though the programme is a list of measures, whilst the budget involves selecting individual items from that list of measures to put to the vote. And Councillor Yantar’s position was not to vote for the programme because it does not correspond to the budget – yes, it does not. But nowhere in the law does it say that the programme must correspond to the adopted budget. We did not adopt the amendments. Who has suffered as a result? Battery recycling has not gone ahead, and the environment has suffered. They will continue to be stored somewhere there. The issue of the houses will not be resolved, nor will the allocation of land for construction through the GAUFonden for people waiting for this housing — well, fine. It’s ambitious, it sounds good. Let them wait a little longer without housing,» remarked the mayor.

He also recalled the first year of the full-scale invasion, when the mayor had delegated powers to make decisions on behalf of the council.

«Personally, I think that if I’d worked like that during the first year of the war, when I was delegated the right to make decisions on behalf of the council, we’d all be speaking Russian here by now. If I’d been asked to help the army — to dig trenches and dugouts, or provide financial support — and I’d been convening committees, things would have turned out very, very badly,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

At the same time, the mayor urged councillors to focus on their work and stated that he saw no point in continuing the session if the city council was unable to function.

«We’ve moved on. There are no political issues, there’s no need to prove anything to anyone; we need to get on with the work. Our decisions aren’t perfect, but they work. However, I see no point in continuing the session. It’s a waste of my time and yours,» he said.

In response, councillor Serhii Kantor agreed that the city council’s work had become less coordinated, but urged that responsibility not be placed solely on the councillors.

«Let’s go back to the start of the war, when I said that our mayor is our commander-in-chief and we must do what he proposes. And I think that at a certain stage this worked and well-considered decisions were made. But something has gone awry. And now we must treat everyone with consideration and respect. And we must work in unison to achieve that,» said Serhii Kantor.

Councillor Artem Iliuk, however, fully supported the mayor’s criticism. He stated that they, too, deserved a reprimand for ‘unsatisfactory work’, as their personal communications should not affect the residents of Mykolaiv.

«After sessions like this, it seems to me that we should be issued a notice of dismissal for poor performance of our duties. The councillors didn’t listen, didn’t act in time, the executive bodies didn’t follow through, poor communication… It’s there! But these are our problems, not the people’s, not the residents of Mykolaiv’s. We can do whatever we like behind the scenes, but we must get to the point where we make decisions, rather than engaging in emotional arguments. Let’s make sure we sort this out from within, because it will end badly,» said Artem Iliuk.

As a reminder, Mykolaiv City Council was unable to dismiss Hanna Montavon, chair of the supervisory board of «Mykolaivvodokanal». At the same time, 21 councillors supported an amendment proposing that the reason for her dismissal be recognised as unsatisfactory performance.