Residents of Zavodska Street in Mykolaiv have been left without power for the second time this week and are planning a protest

In Mykolaiv, residents of Zavodska Street have once again been left without power and are planning a protest. Photo: Iryna Rits

In Mykolaiv, for the second time this week, the power supply has been cut off in homes on Zavodska Street. Residents say that after six days without power, electricity was restored for just one day — now they are preparing a protest.

Local resident Iryna Rits contacted the editorial office of NikVesti, reporting that homes had been left without power again since 13 June.

As early as 8 June, residents had informed the editorial team that they had been without electricity for several days. Residents explain that historically their homes have been connected to power grids managed by the Mykolaiv Sea Port. According to them, following the incident, some consumers were reconnected, but five high-rise blocks remained without power.

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«I was forced to contact you because of a completely hopeless situation. The fact is that there has been no electricity on Zavodska Street for three days now. Historically, our buildings have been connected to the power grid via the seaport. On Saturday, they reconnected part of Zavodska Street, but our five high-rise blocks were effectively ignored. They are also refusing to carry out repairs to the line. My appeal to the city call centre was to no avail — they replied that the seaport is not under their jurisdiction. But we are also residents of Mykolaiv and, as such, should be protected from arbitrary decisions,» the appeal states.

After six days without power, the electricity supply was restored, but not for long. By 14 June, residents were reporting power cuts again.

«Zavodska Street was without power for six days — from 6 to 11 June. It was only after a major outcry that we managed to get the repairs done. But once again, from 13 June onwards, we were left without power. We only had electricity for one day. And once again, everyone is «passing us the buck’»— neither the port, nor Oblenergo, nor the city wants us. Our patience has run out. I think if you were in our shoes, yours would have run out long ago too,» local resident Iryna Rits told the editorial team.

Residents also suggest that the situation may be caused by an unresolved issue regarding the transfer of networks from the seaport to the distribution system operator. At the same time, people stress that the main thing for them is a stable electricity supply, regardless of which organisation maintains the lines.

«It seems we have become hostages to a long-standing conflict between the seaport and Oblenergo over the transfer of the line for maintenance. However, it is these organisations that must resolve this issue. Believe me, we couldn’t care less who we pay for our electricity to — the tariff is the same. But right now, these organisations are passing the buck, and we are the ones left holding the baby,» the appeal states.

Due to prolonged power cuts, 38 residents of the buildings at 1/2, 3/1, 3/2, 4-A and 5 Zavodska Street have signed a collective appeal to the Mykolaiv City Council demanding that the problem be resolved.

It is worth noting that the issue of electricity supply to the buildings on Zavodska Street was already discussed on 25 March at a meeting of the Mykolaiv City Council’s budget committee. At that time, the director of the Housing and Utilities Department, Dmytro Bezdolnyi, explained that the buildings found themselves in a special situation due to their connection to the networks of the Mykolaiv Sea Port.

«The buildings on Zavodska Street were connected via the port. When the port was operational, the costs of maintaining these networks were negligible for it, so they effectively turned a blind eye to this. But following an audit, the port was obliged to stop covering these costs. It is not currently operational, so the situation has become critical and there is a risk of the buildings being cut off from the electricity supply,» said Dmytro Bezdolnyi.

According to him, because of this, residents nearly lost their electricity supply last winter.

«It’s been an issue for quite some time, but this winter the buildings were on the verge of being left completely without light and without any electricity supply at all. That is why this issue (regarding the allocation of funds to reconnect the buildings to another branch of the electricity grid, — note) is being put forward for consideration,» he noted.

To resolve the issue, the city authorities plan to reconnect the buildings to a different branch of the electricity grid and transfer them to the care of JSC «Mykolaivoblenergo». To do this, it is necessary to draw up project documentation, install new service connections and fit building-wide meters.

«This isn’t just about repairing the network in the building to improve people’s lives. It’s about preventing a crisis situation where buildings could be left without any electricity supply,» said Dmytro Bezdolnyi.

At the same time, he noted that the final scope of work will become clear after the design phase, as some of the power networks and equipment in the buildings date back to the Soviet era.