City council members did not have enough votes to support the new structure of the mayor's office

Mykolaiv City Council. Photo: archive NikVesti

Deputies of the Mykolaiv City Council were again unable to pass a resolution approving the new structure of executive bodies. The draft provided for the introduction of a separate body responsible for the protection of cultural heritage.

The issue was considered during the session on 26 February, according to NikVesti.

The first item on the agenda was the approval of the provisions on the executive body of the Mykolaiv City Council. This issue was to be reported on by the executive committee's chief of staff, Andrii Volkov, but he did not appear at the session.

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The draft decision was put to a vote, but only 24 deputies voted in favour and 7 abstained, so it was not passed.

Councillor Serhii Kantor explained his abstention by saying that there were insufficient funds in the budget and that staff numbers needed to be reduced.

«Today we are saying that we do not have enough money, we are changing the vectors of decision-making. And as for reducing the number of staff, we are keeping quiet about it, which is why I abstained,» he said.

In turn, councillor Olena Kiseliova believes that it is necessary to make at least some kind of decision. According to her, if her colleagues propose reducing the number of employees in the executive bodies, then they should put forward specific proposals for discussion.

«We can talk about very important programmes, the need for reductions, the effectiveness of the executive bodies, and some negative factors in their activities. But we either vote for the updated structure, or this tug-of-war will drag on for a very long time. Or there are other proposals, and they need to be put forward for discussion. Do we need to reduce? Then let's make a decision by the city council deputies to reduce the staff by 20% or 40%. But this can be announced in the usual manner and worked out,» she believes.

The secretary of the Mykolaiv City Council, Dmytro Falko, added that it is not enough to just observe and refrain from action. In addition, the law adds the function of mobilisation work to the city council, and there should be a separate department with more than 40 employees, but only five people are currently working there.

Deputy Fedir Panchenko noted that further explanations are unlikely to change the outcome: «You are wasting your time and ours. This discussion will be endless. And even if you explain everything for several hours, in a minute it will all start over again,» he is convinced.

After that, the issue of approving the structure of the executive bodies was also brought up without Vitalii Volkov's report. «For» — 16, against — «1», abstained — «12». The decision was also not adopted.

It should be noted that the deputy commissions did not support the issue of structure. On 18 November, the members of the commission on health care and social protection did not have enough votes to support the updated structure. After that, at the meeting on 26 November, the issue was again not supported.

In addition, on 14 November, members of the Mykolaiv City Council's standing committee on land issues also did not support the new structure.

It should be noted that at the end of August, the Mykolaiv City Council approved the updated structure of the executive bodies of the mayor's office, which, in particular, provides for the liquidation of the anti-corruption department as an independent structural unit and its incorporation into the executive committee. At that time, during the session, City Council member Andrii Yermolaev, who headed this department, spoke out against this decision.

In September this year, the National Agency for Corruption Prevention recommended that Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych create a separate, independent and functionally independent anti-corruption unit within the city council. The NACP letter emphasises that such units should operate autonomously and be responsible for preventing and detecting corruption.

What Sienkevych proposes in the new structure of the Mykolaiv City Council

Back in April, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych presented a draft of a new structure for the executive bodies, which was developed in accordance with the recommendations of an Ernst & Young audit. The new structure provides for a reduction in the number of chief administrators and the liquidation and consolidation of departments. At the same time, the city council cannot yet say how much the number of executive body officials and the costs of maintaining them will be reduced.

Draft of the new structure of Mykolaiv's executive bodies, presented in April 2025, screenshot from the mayor's presentation

At the same time, the draft of the new structure of the executive bodies of the Mykolaiv City Council provides for an increase in the number of deputy mayors to seven. It is planned to create the position of vice mayor for digitalisation.

The draft of the new structure of the executive bodies of the Mykolaiv City Council provides for a reduction in the powers of district administrations, which will cease to be the main administrators of funds. The heads of two districts, who are also people's deputies, Oleksandr Bereza and Hanna Remennikova, publicly reacted to this.

At the same time, it was reported that Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych believes that deputies should not combine representative and executive functions and therefore should not hold positions in the executive bodies of the city council.