Mykolaiv lacks almost ₴120 million for barrier-free accessibility: what does the city hall plan to do with it

The infrastructure of Mykolaiv in August 2024, intended for the movement of people with disabilities through the city, photo: «NykVesty"

The city budget does not have 118.4 million hryvnias for the implementation of the target program «Mykolaiv without barriers», which is designed for 2024-2026.

This is stated in the article of NikVesti «City of barriers: Is Mykolaiv ready for modern challenges?».

In total, 118.4 million hryvnias are needed to implement the program: in 2024 — 36.6 million hryvnias, in 2025 — 39.9 million hryvnias, in 2026 — 41.8 million hryvnias. Of these, 112.2 million hryvnias are from the city budget, and the rest are from other sources of funding. However, currently the deputies have only approved the Program, funds for its implementation have not yet been allocated.

Currently, there is no money in the city budget for the implementation of the «Mykolaiv without barriers» program, and it is not yet known whether they will find it in the future, says the first deputy mayor of Mykolaiv, Vitalii Lukov. After all, it was developed even before Mykolaiv lost 45% of the city budget due to the withdrawal of the military tax, he explained.

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«If the situation is as it is now, it will be difficult to implement the program. Because it was prepared when we had the appropriate revenue part of the budget, and because now we have lost almost half of the city budget, if you notice, we don't even have a sidewalk this year. There are simply no funds. In Mykolaiv, unlike other cities that are close to the front, there is a huge problem with water supply. And we need to maintain these hundreds of water points, plus a completely unbalanced domestic water supply system. This is a very difficult task. Given the current realities, we will not be able to implement the program that was prepared last year. This must be recognized, because it is simply unreal,» said Vitalii Lukov.

However, he says, the city authorities are preparing another «step towards accessibility». Currently, negotiations are ongoing with a company that wants to invest funds in Mykolaiv in order to carry out prosthetics and rehabilitation of military and war-affected civilians in the city itself, Vitalii Lukov explained.

«At present, the following procedure has developed: when a person loses a leg, in our hospitals he is given only primary care. Then she goes to the western regions or abroad for prosthetics, rehabilitation, and so on. There are a lot of such people now. Oleksandr Fedorovych gave a mandate and now we are working, negotiating with the company,» said Vitalii Lukov.

The German company «Horus Prosthetics GmbH», which specializes in the manufacture of prostheses for the lower limbs, intends to create a prosthetics center in Mykolaiv, the city council reported. Specialists use a technique with artificial intelligence, thanks to which prostheses are made in 90-120 minutes and repeat anatomical parameters. Nine patients will be fitted with prostheses free of charge.

As of August 8, the Mykolaiv City Council's health care department has already begun to form a register of patients.

German prosthetists will work in Mykolaiv, photo: city council

German prosthetists will work in Mykolaiv, photo: city council

German prosthetists will work in Mykolaiv, photo: city council

As a reminder, in the summer of 2024, the Mykolaiv City Council approved the target program «Mykolaiv without barriers» for 2024-2026.

At the same time, on June 13, the «Barrier-free Ukraine» conference took place in Mykolaiv, where the «Barrier-free Handbook» was presented. During which the deputy of the city council Yurii Stepanets reminded that the city government should focus more attention on the issue of barrier-free and accessible city infrastructure for people with disabilities.