Former Deputy Mayor Buhaienko warns against closing three nurseries in Mykolaiv: the war will end one day, and children will be born

An official during the administration of Mayor Volodymyr Chaika from 1990 to 2008, she was responsible for social affairs in Mykolaiv. Photo from Tamila Bugaienko’s personal Facebook page

Tamila Bugayenko, former deputy mayor of Mykolaiv, has commented on the education department’s proposal to close three nurseries. She believes this could lead to a shortage of places in pre-school institutions once the war ends.

She expressed this view in a comment to NikVesti.

From 2000 to 2008, she was responsible for humanitarian issues in Mayor Volodymyr Chaika’s team. She recalled, in particular, that 20 years ago, during the decline of Mykolaiv’s factories, a problem arose with the kindergartens that belonged to them. It was then that some of the facilities were transferred to municipal ownership and began to resume operations.

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«The Black Sea Shipyard handed over «Okean» to municipal ownership at that time. They held on to YUTZ for a very long time; they were the last to hand it over. In fact, they closed them down first and then handed them over to us. In the central neighbourhood, a large residential area, there wasn’t a single nursery. And I’m telling you this as an example. Time passed, and things began to settle down. People started having more children. And about five years after all the closures, we faced the problem that there simply wasn’t anywhere to send the children to nursery. And a disaster ensued. People queued up, they were nervous, waiting a year or two to get into this nursery. Those nurseries that weren’t returned were, of course, plundered, privatised and so on,» she says.

Tamila Buhaienko was sceptical about the current government’s proposal to close them down. She stresses that the demographic situation will change after the war.

«Right now, I don’t know when the war will end. Some people will return and won’t be afraid to have children. And children will appear in the city. Building a nursery in the next 5–10 years, it seems to me, is simply unthinkable. I don’t know what will happen next, because the city will be rebuilt anyway, but there won’t be any nurseries left,» she adds.

In her view, the situation with each nursery must be considered separately. She admits that due to the lack of shelter and children, some facilities may temporarily cease operations or be mothballed, but emphasises: this should not mean the loss of the premises themselves. The former deputy believes that the city should preserve the nursery buildings, not hand them over for privatisation, and not leave them unguarded.

«I would advise examining the situation regarding each nursery. We cannot make sweeping decisions. Perhaps, due to the lack of children, we need to temporarily close them down or mothball them, but under no circumstances should the premises be handed over today to be plundered or privatised. Nurseries are the first building block. We must not hand over the premises for privatisation or plundering. We must ensure that the situation of twenty years ago is not repeated,» assured Tamila Buhaienko.

It is worth recalling that the last nursery in Mykolaiv was opened by Mayor Yurii Hranaturov in October 2014.

Former mayor Yurii Hranaturov cuts the ribbon at the opening of a nursery in Mykolaiv, October 2014. Archive photo NikVesti

Meanwhile, for two consecutive terms, the current mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, has been promising residents that he will build a nursery in the Pivnichnyi district. However, the project remains only on paper. Moreover, the new nursery was one of the pre-election promises made by Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych in 2020; construction work was announced for 2021, but this did not happen.

Why does Mykolaiv want to close three nurseries?

The Mykolaiv Department of Education has initiated a decision to close three nurseries: №104 (a nursery on Torhova Street in the Korabelnyi district), №128 (a nursery-kindergarten at the junction of Mariupolska and Pavlo Skoropadskyi Streets (formerly Admiral Makarov Street) and №138 (a nursery-kindergarten on General Popel Street in Balabanivka). The official reason is the lack of and impossibility of installing shelters. This means that if the motion is passed at the session, there will no longer be such educational establishments in Mykolaiv, and their total number will decrease.

During the committee meeting, the chair of the education committee, Hanna Nord, stated that it is the institutions themselves that are being proposed for closure , whilst the buildings will remain with the city.

What do city councillors think about the closure?

Councillor Olena Kiseliova supported the rationale for closing the kindergartens, stating that it is not cost-effective for the city to maintain them. She says that behind the closure lies a broader issue than the fact that they lack shelters and that it is impossible to build them there. Throughout the war, the institutions have been idle, but all this time it has been necessary to maintain the buildings and staff.

Councillor Artem Iliuk stated that he could support the legal closure of the three nurseries, but said he would not support the subsequent privatisation of these buildings.