A working group in Mykolaiv will investigate the fate of the advertising structures dismantled at the start of the war

Screenshot of the meeting of the Mykolaiv City Council’s Committee on Human Rights, Children, Family, Law and Transparency on 21 April

Mykolaiv’s chief architect, Yevhen Poliakov, stated that it is currently unknown which advertising structures were dismantled at the start of the full-scale invasion and whether they were used for defence purposes. A working group will be set up to investigate the matter.

This was discussed at a meeting of the Mykolaiv City Council’s Committee on Human Rights, Children, Family, Law and Transparency on 21 April, according to NikVesti.

Oleksandr Lemeshko, a representative of the city’s advertising industry, spoke at the meeting. He stated that in 2022, their advertising structures were dismantled allegedly due to a decision by the executive committee for defence purposes, but were not used for their intended purpose.

Advertising

«We currently have a problem that has remained unresolved for four years. Everyone is aware of this issue, including the architectural community. In accordance with an order from the head of the military administration, a large number of advertising structures were dismantled at the start of the full-scale invasion. There have been numerous requests regarding the legal status of these advertising structures and their return. The issue has not been resolved in any way,» noted Oleksandr Lemeshko.

He also stated that he knows where the advertising structures are, but they are not being returned

«This is a problem that has remained unresolved for four years — the return of advertising structures that were dismantled at the start of the full-scale invasion. But they played no part whatsoever in ensuring defence capabilities. In other words, they were dismantled, placed on the premises of a municipal enterprise known to us, and to this day we cannot even collect them as scrap metal,» noted Oleksandr Lemeshko.

He noted that the architecture department is currently holding meetings with business representatives as part of a memorandum regarding a future comprehensive scheme for the placement of advertising and its reduction across the city. However, Oleksandr Lemeshko points out that the process appears unclear.

«They (the dismantled advertising structures, — note) determine the initial number of locations, which serves as the starting point for this working group to make a decision under the memorandum regarding the reduction of the total number of advertising media… In some advertising companies, the percentage of dismantled structures is 10%, and in others 90%,» says the advertising industry representative.

Mykolaiv’s chief architect, Yevhen Poliakov, noted that he is unaware of which structures are being referred to and that the executive committee’s decision needs to be examined.

«We’re talking about mythical structures located on the grounds of some municipal enterprise... I visited those sites; there are no structures there. Even if I try my hardest, I’ll never be able to establish where they went or what happened in 2022. We should have looked into this in 2023 or 2024, but now it’s 2026,» says Yevhen Poliakov.

To which the chair of the commission, Olena Kiseliova, noted that it doesn’t matter when it happened and we need to find out who dismantled these structures and where they are.

«What difference does it make? Essentially, it’s either a crime, not a crime, or a good deed. We need to establish the legality of the dismantling. The intentions seem to be good. If they were dismantled, then who did it?» she remarked.

Olena Kiseli ova added that a working committee should be set up to investigate this matter and, if necessary, refer it to the law enforcement authorities.

«Set up a working group and, on the basis of the working group’s findings, investigate and establish the facts regarding whether the dismantling of the structure was lawful or unlawful,» added the commission chair.

It should be recalled that in March 2022, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, announced that all billboards in the city centre would be demolished, and the metal from them would be used to make anti-tank «hedgehogs». He emphasised at the time that everything would be ‘officially documented’ and that the city’s municipal services would handle this.

«In general, we are currently dismantling the billboards that stand everywhere in the city centre and will use them for ‘hedgehogs’. Billboards are not needed in the city at all. It is high time to put them to good use,» Vitalii Kim said at the time.

We would also like to remind you that since the start of the year, over 900 advertising structures have been dismantled in Mykolaiv.