Sienkevych stated that he is trying to delegate as many powers as possible to the city councillors: «Today I am the mayor, but tomorrow it will be someone else»

Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych. Photo: City Council

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that he is trying to transfer to the city council those powers that he can delegate. He explained that, as another person will eventually take up the post of mayor, it is important to establish a systematic approach to city management.

He made these remarks on 29 September during the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI) forum in Kyiv, according to NikVesti.

During his speech, Oleksandr Sienkevych spoke about changes to the management of Mykolaiv’s municipal enterprises. In particular, he discussed the creation of supervisory boards, to which it is planned to transfer some control over the enterprises’ operations.

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The mayor noted that he hopes a decision regarding «Mykolaivelektrotrans» will be adopted at the next session of the city council. In future, such changes are also planned to be introduced at «Mykolaivoblteploenergo».

At the same time, Oleksandr Sienkevych emphasised that the creation of supervisory boards would not eliminate all corruption risks, but would allow for the decentralisation of decision-making.

«Do I believe that this, shall we say, eliminates all corruption risks at these enterprises? No. But, at the very least, it will allow the decision-making process to be diversified away from the mayor. Today it’s me, and tomorrow it’ll be someone else,» he said.

According to the mayor, he wishes to delegate oversight of the enterprises’ activities to a group of people who are not connected to one another and who declare their aim to improve the performance of these enterprises.

Oleksandr Sienkevych added that he is trying to transfer other powers that he can delegate to the city council.

«Anything I can hand over from myself to the city council, I try to do so, because today it’s me, and tomorrow it’ll be another mayor. Yes, the role of the individual in history cannot be overstated, but, in principle, everything must be brought back to how the system works,» explained the mayor.

He then recalled the conflicts with city councillors during his first term in office. According to Oleksandr Sienkevych, at that time 26 out of 54 councillors represented the «Opposition Bloc», and the standoff with the city council lasted throughout the first five years of his tenure.

«For the first five years, I was at loggerheads with the city council, in which 26 out of 54 councillors were from the «Opposition Bloc» — they even impeached me for half a year. And our Ukrainian courts reinstated me, by the way,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

At the same time, the issue of councillors’ influence on municipal decisions had arisen before. In December 2018, Oleksandr Sienkevych vetoed a clause in the budget resolution that granted the budget committee the right to approve the list of projects for funding. In August 2025, Olena Kiseliova proposed restoring councillors’ influence over the allocation of the budget to meet the needs of their constituents. And five days before the forum, at the session on 24 September 2026, during a discussion on changes to the composition of the water utility’s supervisory board, Oleksandr Sienkevych criticised councillors for dragging their feet on the issues. He recalled that in 2022, he had, in his own words, been delegated the right to make decisions on behalf of the council, and stated that he saw no point in continuing the sessions, calling them a waste of time.

However, at the session on 2 October, after the forum had taken place, councillors did not support the amendments to the «Mykolaivelektrotrans» articles of association or the decision regarding the composition of the supervisory board. Earlier, Oleksandr Sienkevych had explained the choice of enterprises for integrity assessments by the fact that they receive significant budgetary funds.