«Mykolaiv Parks» have stated that there is no money to plant trees this spring

There is no funding for tree planting in Mykolaiv this spring. Archive photo: NikVesti

The municipal enterprise ‘Mykolaiv Parks’ has stated that it will be unable to plant trees this spring due to a lack of funding. The necessary expenditure had been planned, but no funds were allocated to the enterprise from the city budget.

This was revealed by the director of the municipal enterprise Mykolaiv Parks, Dmytro Chuchmai, during a conversation with Mykolaiv activist Dmytro Riabchenko, according to NikVesti.

According to him, the city currently has no funding for greening. However, he noted that city councillors could initiate the allocation of funds, particularly in response to public appeals.

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«There are about 250 trees just on Ihor Bedzai Street. What are 300 trees for the whole city, or 500 shrubs, or 1,000? The city needs more. Why aren’t your capital funds being used for this?» asked Dmytro Riabchenko.

In response, the company director explained that all expenditure is approved by councillors, so funding is impossible without their decision.

«As public figures, you need to approach the city council councillors to initiate funding for these needs. Because every item of expenditure is justified by us and agreed with the city council councillors. Therefore, all these expenses need to be approved by us, and only councillors can approve them. You can join us in approaching the budget committee to request additional funding for greening,» said Dmytro Chuchmai.

He also added that the company’s annual budget is around 121 million hryvnias, but these funds are insufficient to cover all needs, including tree planting.

«Tell me, are you planning to plant trees this spring?» asked Dmytro Riabchenko.

«We don’t plan to, because there’s no funding for it. We had planned to, but those funds weren’t allocated to us. There are core expenditure items: wages, materials, and utilities. We employ around 350 people, and a significant portion of the funds goes towards salaries. The money that used to be spent on contractors now goes towards paying the company’s employees,» explained Dmytro Chuchmai.

As a reminder, the municipal enterprise ‘Mykolaiv Parks’ plans to increase its workforce from 346 to 389 people in order to service all districts of the city using its own resources. To this end, the enterprise is requesting 164 million hryvnias from the budget.

Previously, the Planning and Budget Committee of the Mykolaiv City Council did not support a draft resolution that would have granted the Mykolaiv Parks municipal enterprise permission to take out a new loan to purchase specialised equipment. At the Parks municipal enterprise, they explained why they need another loan of 45 million hryvnias for street-cleaning vehicles in Mykolaiv: «Leaves are falling very heavily».

How does the Mykolaiv Parks municipal enterprise operate?

Funding for the Mykolaiv Parks municipal enterprise has increased significantly over the last five years — from 8.6 million hryvnias in 2020 to 167.2 million hryvnias in 2023. In 2024, the enterprise’s budget stood at 144 million hryvnias, which is slightly less than in the previous year.

At the same time, as of August 2024, the municipal enterprise had 262 staff members. This is six times more than in 2021, when the figure stood at 39 people. However, the enterprise still needs around 400 more staff members, said director Dmytro Chuchmai.