Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv was spotted with his iPhone 17 Pro Max, which is more expensive than his monthly salary

The deputy mayor of Mykolaiv was spotted with an iPhone 17 Pro Max, which costs more than his monthly salary. Infographic NikVesti

Serhii Korenev, deputy mayor of Mykolaiv, was spotted with a new iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphone, which costs more than his official monthly salary.

Serhii Korenev was seen with his new phone at the opening of the renovated gynaecology department at City Hospital №1 on Thursday, 15 January.

Serhii Korenev with the new iPhone model. Photo: Facebook page of the Mykolaiv Development Agency

According to various online stores, depending on the memory capacity, the price of the iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at 63,999 hryvnias and can reach 83,999 hryvnias.

Screenshot of prices for the phone from the official Apple reseller in Ukraine, store.iland.ua. The product is available to order, so the prices are the lowest. Other online stores with the product "in stock" sell the iPhone at a 10-15% higher price.

At the same time, according to information about the official's income for 2025, his official salary is 21,895 hryvnias per month.

In 2025, Serhii Korenev received 234,000 hryvnias in bonuses to his annual salary, which totalled 637,000 hryvnias. This is the lowest salary among all deputy mayors.

Serhii Korenev's average monthly salary in 2025 was 58,000 hryvnias, infographic NikVesti

At the end of November 2025, the deputy mayor was still seen with an older model iPhone.

Serhii Korenev with an older iPhone model. Photo: Facebook page of the Mykolaiv Development Agency

According to Serhii Korenev's declaration for 2024, he declared savings of 5,000 US dollars and 150,000 hryvnias in cash.

In 2024, Serhii Korenev earned 837,200 hryvnias, which averages out to 69,700 hryvnias per month. He also received 71,800 hryvnias in pension payments.

At the same time, in his declaration for 2017, when he became an official, he indicated savings of 23,000 US dollars.

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Thus, during his seven years of work at the Mykolaiv City Council, Serhii Korenev's savings decreased almost fivefold.

We will remind you that the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, said that there is no money in the Mykolaiv budget to increase teachers' salaries, as initiated by the state.

In addition, at the end of 2025, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that the problem of low salaries in the city council is acute. The difference between the salaries of local government officials and civil servants is 50-100%, he said. Therefore, the mayor explained, salaries for officials can only be increased with financial assistance from the state budget.

As for the new budget for 2026, according to Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych, it is in fact a subsistence budget and does not cover all the needs of the community.

In total, the budget revenues for 2026 amount to 5 billion 546 million hryvnias, while the total budget expenditures amount to 5 billion 275 million 353 thousand 815 hryvnias.

To meet the city's needs, at the session on 30 December, deputies appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with a request to provide an additional subsidy from the state budget.

The deputies also appealed to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers with a request to increase the salaries of cultural workers. The document refers to the critically low level of wages in the cultural sector.

According to the city's calculations, its own budget revenues for 2026 are only sufficient to cover 82.5% of actual needs, and the financial resource deficit exceeds 1 billion 140 million hryvnias.