Power outage in Mykolaiv may paralyse the work of the Treasury on the last day of the budget year

No electricity or communication: Mykolaiv's treasury is at risk of shutting down on the last day of the budget year. Archive photo: NikVesti

A planned power outage by Mykolaivoblenergo on the last day of the budget year could completely shut down the city Treasury, paralysing salary payments and funding for critical services.

Andrii Nikolenko, chief accountant of the Treasury, wrote about this on Facebook.

He said that the institution has been operating in difficult conditions for a long time with limited funding and constant power outages.

«We have been working in such conditions for a long time — insufficient funding and blackouts. Somehow we managed to get by — we have a couple of uninterruptible power supply units, which were a bit nervous in 2/4 mode, but were enough. However, on the last day of the budget year, to cut off our power for half a day at the busiest time is the ultimate. In my opinion, this is a lack of understanding of the needs of our own city,» he said.

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According to Andrii Nikolenko, chief accountant of the Treasury, it is impossible to carry out financial transactions without electricity, which are necessary to pay salaries, settle accounts with service providers and fulfil other city obligations.

«The city Treasury is located on line 4.1. And it is on the last day of budget payments this year that Mykolaivoblenergo is scheduled to cut off the electricity supply. This automatically stops the work of the Treasury, which is a critical link for the city's functioning,» he wrote.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that even after the power comes back on, communication may not work, because Ukrtelecom equipment has no backup power.

«Was it possible to synchronise power supply and communications in advance? Obviously, yes. But it seems that the issue was not taken into account by Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych. It is extremely important for us to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the Treasury (electricity + communication) on this critical day and all the following ones. Organise interaction between Mykolaivoblenergo and Ukrtelecom.

I cannot use any other connection, even if it is a Starlink — this is the architecture. I can't use fuel (for which there are no funds) — there is no place to store it,» adds Andrii Nikolenko.

The chief accountant called on local authorities, energy and telecommunications services to find a solution so that the Treasury could complete the budget year without interruption.

«The state currently has the only important priority - security and defence. The local authorities could take care of how the state could help in this regard. The mayor or anyone else who should be interested in the smooth functioning of their city's financial system has not even asked about our capabilities and needs during all this time. We need effective help with either power and telecom companies or charging stations, not endless invaluable advice from Facebook know-it-alls from offices of simple solutions that start with the words «and what's the problem with doing this and that?» he wrote.

As a reminder, on 27 December, Mykolaiv will face scheduled power outages due to grid repairs.