Up to ₴2 million for the whole country: how Ukrainian cities have prepared for the winter holidays

In Mykolaiv, the main Christmas tree was lit in the children's town «Fairy Tale», photo: NikVesti

In 2025, the city councils of Ukraine's largest cities have allocated a total of about 2 million hryvnias for New Year and Christmas celebrations. At the same time, almost 40% of them did not provide for separate expenses for traditional winter events at all — they used the help of patrons or completely refused to finance the holidays. Mykolaiv is among the latter.

This is stated in a study by the «CHESNO» movement, which sent inquiries to 40 city councils of Ukraine's largest communities.

New Year's spending from city budgets on winter holidays. Infographic: CHESNO movement

Where did they spend the most?

Kropyvnytskyi became one of the cities with the highest expenditures. It purchased a five-metre-high artificial Christmas tree worth 65 thousand hryvnias and planned to spend money on five festive events in the New Year's town. The decorations, photo zone and installation of the structures cost the city a total of 229,000 hryvnias.

Christmas tree in Kropyvnytskyi. Photo: Suspilne Kropyvnytskyi

A Christmas tree purchased in 2021 was installed in Chernivtsi. The money saved was spent on decorating it — a design project, toys, banners, and equipment rental. In total, more than 190 thousand hryvnias was spent, including New Year's gifts for children.

The Christmas tree in Chernivtsi. Photo: ACC

Pavlohrad City Council spent the most on illumination — almost 199 thousand hryvnias. The city council explained that the previous decorations were no longer suitable for further use.

Patrons as an alternative to budget spending

The city of Bila Tserkva decided that «children should not be deprived of the festive mood», so they involved philanthropists and NGOs in decorating the locations. The city budget allocated money only for certain expenses: 85,000 hryvnias was allocated for Christmas tree decorations, 48,500 hryvnias for festive decoration of the city, and 30,400 hryvnias for the rental of stage structures and sound equipment.

A Christmas tree donated by sponsors back in 2020 was installed in Stryi. The city council paid only for the installation, which cost about 40 thousand hryvnias. Additionally, garlands were purchased for 29 thousand.

Celebrations in Uzhhorod. Photo: Carpathian Telegraph

Uzhhorod used decorations from previous years. Part of the cost of installing the Christmas tree was covered by patrons. At the same time, 72 thousand hryvnias were allocated to update the installation with the number «2026». The city also funded activities for children from vulnerable categories.

In Ternopil, no Christmas tree was set up — a Christmas vertep was set up in the central square. The necessary elements for the set-up and installation with the number «2026» were also paid for by patrons.

Decorations in Ternopil. Photo: Ternopil City Council

In Kyiv, the country's main Christmas tree was installed at the expense of patrons. The project was initiated by the company «Global Decor». The main Christmas tree, a small skating rink, and several houses selling sweets and hot drinks have appeared on St Sophia's Square.

The Christmas tree in Kyiv. Photo: Kyiv24

Cities without main Christmas trees

For the third year in a row, Chernihiv has not set up a main Christmas tree, but instead arranged Christmas installations for children, including those who lost their parents in the war. Thus, a Christmas nativity scene was placed in Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Park. We also installed installations for children called «Horse» and decorated locations for festive events with potted fir trees. Another 105 thousand was spent on a number of festive events, including masterclasses, animators, etc.

Christmas locations in Chernihiv. Photo: Suspilne Chernihiv

In Vinnytsia, no funds were allocated for Christmas trees and illumination at all due to the difficult situation with electricity supply. There were also no plans to hold entertainment events for budgetary funds.

In frontline Kherson, 30 thousand hryvnias were spent on decorating safe spaces for Christmas events.

In Zaporizhzhia, the main Christmas tree was abandoned due to shelling. However, the locations were decorated on their own, and the Christmas trees in the districts were decorated with original toys created by children. As many as 1,100 of them were made. They were used to decorate six Christmas trees in different parts of the city.

Mykolaiv is also among the cities that did not allocate any funds for New Year's celebrations this year.

The main Christmas tree in Mykolaiv

The last time the main Christmas tree was set up in Mykolaiv was in 2021, archive photo by NikVesti

So this year, the city was again left without the main city Christmas tree and mass festive events. Yurii Liubarov, Head of the Mykolaiv City Council's Department of Culture, told NikVesti that he considered it inappropriate to hold major New Year's events in the city centre under martial law.

At the same time, we note that despite the position of the head of the city's culture department, Mykolaiv regularly hosts various mass cultural events organised by public figures and other organisations. Theatres and cinemas are open, and the editorial office of NikVesti prepares a weekly poster of events held in the city.

Also, according to the 2024 declaration filed by Yurii Liubarov on 26 March 2025, his main source of income is his salary. The document indicates that the annual salary of the official in the Department of Culture and Protection of Cultural Heritage was 651,71 hryvnias, which is about 54.3 thousand hryvnias per month.

In a conversation with a journalist from NikVesti, Yurii Liubarov said that taking care of the Christmas tree was not part of his job description. However, until 2022, Yurii Liubarov held separate briefings on Mykolaiv's preparations for the New Year holidays. For example, in December 2018, he spoke in detail about the date and format of the opening of the main Christmas tree, which was accompanied by a large festive concert and musical. In addition, Liubarov also presented a programme of children's events in Chestnut Square, St Nicholas Day and other celebrations. In general, he outlined all the events step by step — from switching on the illumination on the main Christmas tree on 19 December to the end of the festive period on 15 January.

• 2017: On the air of the municipal TV channel «MART», Yurii Liubarov spoke in detail about the new illumination and the Christmas tree on Soborna Square.
• 2018: Yurii Liubarov held a briefing where he spoke about the plan of events for the New Year's celebration in Mykolaiv.
• 2019: During the opening of the main Christmas tree, the head of the Department of Culture spoke to journalists about the celebrations on the renovated Soborna Square.
• 2020: The Mykolaiv Department of Culture spoke about the festivities, decorations and ice rink on Soborna Square that were installed at the time. The head of the Department of Culture, Yurii Liubarov, also spoke about the timing of the celebration in a commentary to NikVesti.
• 2021: On the eve of 19 December, Yurii Liubarov spoke about plans to make the celebration «bright».

Thus, the last time Mykolaiv's main Christmas tree was set up was in 2021 on Soborna Square. It has been placed there since 2018.

Mykolaiv's Christmas tree in military style. Photo from open sources

Instead, in 2022, a military-style Christmas tree appeared in the centre of Mykolaiv, made of camouflage netting for the military. It was used to cover the sandbags that were used to protect the monument to St Nicholas in October 2022 in case of Russian shelling.

See also the article NikVesti: «Spruce, pine and fir trees: how much will a Christmas tree cost Mykolaiv residents?»