The city council committee did not support the new structure with a separate cultural heritage protection department
- News of Mykolaiv
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- Alona Kokhanchuk
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17:39, 21 January, 2026
Screenshot of the meeting of the Commission on Human Rights, Children, Family, Legality and Transparency on 21 JanuaryThe Commission on Legality and Transparency did not support the draft of the updated structure of the executive bodies of the Mykolaiv City Council, which included a separate body for cultural heritage protection.
This became known at the commission meeting on Wednesday, 21 January, according to NikVesti.
Svitlana Ovchynnikova, head of the department for ensuring the activities of the executive bodies of the Mykolaiv City Council, said that the cultural heritage protection department had been removed from the architecture department and created as a separate sector.
«We are approving the internal organisational structure of the executive bodies, and within this structure, we are listing the names of the departments of each executive body and the total number of staff in each executive body,» she said.
The chair of the commission, Olena Kiseliova, reiterated that the only difference in the new draft decision was the creation of a new sector. The total staffing level of the executive bodies of the Mykolaiv City Council remains unchanged at 1,115 staff members.
The commission members had no questions for the speaker, so the draft decision was put to a vote. However, there were not enough votes to support it, with two commission members abstaining and two voting in favour.
It should be noted that the draft decision was made public in early January. In addition to the cultural heritage sector, the document referred to the creation of three new departments: an internal audit service, an inspection service for public amenities, and a procurement department.
In July 2025, the Mykolaiv City Council presented a draft decision on the reorganisation of the structure of the executive bodies. It provided for the liquidation, merger and renaming of a number of departments, a reduction in the number of chief administrators of budget funds, the centralisation of procurement and the redistribution of powers between the executive bodies. At that time, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych emphasised that the final number of employees would be determined after the approval of the regulations and job descriptions, with the staff to be reduced.
As part of the discussion of the updated structure, there was also talk of changing the subordination of functions in the field of cultural heritage protection. In particular, the initial version of the draft provided for the transfer of these powers from the culture department to the architecture and urban planning department.
However, after a public discussion involving representatives of relevant departments and the public, the city council abandoned the idea of transferring cultural heritage protection functions to the Department of Architecture. For more details, read the NikVesti article «How Mykolaiv can change its approach to protecting historic buildings and what is behind it».
Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych announced that instead, they plan to create a separate structural unit responsible for preserving Mykolaiv's cultural heritage, which will report to the relevant deputy mayor but will not be part of the culture department.
The city council explained that this format should avoid potential conflicts of interest and ensure a clearer division of powers in the field of protecting the city's historical buildings.
This material was created within the framework of the project «Supporting the Sustainability of Ukrainian Media», which is implemented by the international organization Internews with financial support from Sweden. The content of the material is the sole responsibility of the NGO «Mykolaiv Media Hub» and does not necessarily reflect the official position of Sweden or Internews.