The Pivdennoukrainsk City Council pays ₴45,000 per month to the dismissed deputy mayor.

Serhii Hornostai. Photo: his personal Facebook page

In Pivdennoukrainsk, deputies are proposing to reinstate the position of deputy mayor for executive council affairs and to reinstate Serhii Hornostai, who was previously dismissed from this position. This issue is planned to be brought before the city council for consideration.

This became known during a meeting of the standing committee on human rights, legality and deputy activities, according to NikVesti.

The members of the committee were informed that on 13 January, the court issued a ruling obliging the deputies of the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council to report by 13 February on the implementation of the previous decision to reinstate Serhii Hornostai to his position.

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In this regard, the deputies were asked to adopt a decision to introduce the position of deputy mayor for the activities of the executive bodies of the council and to reinstate Serhii Gornostai to this position. They were also asked to include him in the executive committee of the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council.

During the discussion at the committee meeting, it was stated that the city council pays Serhii Hornostay approximately 40-45 thousand hryvnias per month, as per the court decision, as compensation for the period of forced absence from work.

«Every month, he submits and declares property claims for the recovery of wages for the period of non-compliance with the court decision. And the court simply bangs the gavel every two or three months and asks, 'Have you complied?', 'No, we haven't. Let's take the money from the budget.' He is essentially a freelance employee who costs us 40-45 thousand hryvnias a month. So let him go to work,» they said during the meeting.

The members of the commission supported bringing this issue up for consideration at a session of the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council.

We will remind you that in March 2025, council members considered a draft decision on the reinstatement of Serhii Hornostai, but did not support it. In addition, by decision of the session, two deputy mayor positions were cut. One of them was held by Serhii Hornostai.

After that, in September 2025, deputies again did not agree to reinstate Serhii Hornostai as deputy mayor, who was supposed to return to his job in accordance with the court's decision.

In August 2025, a working group was set up in Pivdennoukrainsk to conduct an official investigation into the officials involved in the improper preparation of documents for the dismissal of Deputy Mayor Serhii Hornostai.

It should be recalled that the former deputy mayor of Pivdennoukrainsk, Serhii Hornostai, achieved reinstatement through the courts and received 280,000 hryvnias in compensation for unlawful dismissal. In addition, the court upheld the claim for moral damages, awarding 5,000 hryvnias.

Back in 2023, members of the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council elected Denys Kravchenko as secretary at an off-site meeting. Twenty-one councillors were present. According to NikVesti, most of them are affiliated with or directly employed by the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant.

Before the meeting, the deputies tried to expel the correspondent and cameraman of NikVesti. In particular, Anzhela Savastru, elected from the Opposition Platform — For Life party, stated that she had rented the premises in the Energetik cultural centre at her own expense, and that journalists therefore had no right to be there. She then asked them to «chip in» for the rent.

At first, Denys Kravchenko was unable to register for the position. In a decision dated 14 September 2023, the state registrar refused to register him as secretary of the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council. The document states that Denis Kravchenko did not submit all the necessary documents and did not leave the originals of the documents and his own application for registration with the registrar. It also states that technical errors were made when filling out the application.