Potholes, mud and impassable roads: residents of Rybakivka are asking for the road to be repaired, having complained about it for years

Residents of Rybakivka have complained about the road being in a state of disrepair. Photo for illustrative purposes from the archive of NikVesti

Residents of Rybatska Street in the village of Rybakivka, Kobleve community, have complained about the road’s poor condition and asked for funds to be allocated for its repair in the 2027 budget. The village council replied that no funds had been allocated for the repair of this road this year, and that a major repair is unlikely in the near future.

The residents’ collective appeal was considered during a session of the Kobleve village council on 9 October, according to NikVesti.

According to the residents, the street has no tarmac surface, and after rain the road turns into a muddy mess with deep potholes and puddles. This makes it difficult for people to get around and for emergency services vehicles to reach homes. Residents also complain that the condition of the road is causing damage to private vehicles.

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In their petition, they asked councillors to consider the issue of repairs in the relevant committees, to allocate funding in the local budget for 2027 and to include the works in the community’s relevant targeted programmes. Separately, residents emphasised that they had still not received a response to their previous petition, registered in May 2026.

One of the residents’ representatives stated during the session that people have been raising this issue for many years, but the situation remains unchanged.

Svitlana Chubarova, the village council’s chief accountant, explained that no funds had been allocated in this year’s budget for road repairs. According to her, funding was allocated last year for work on Rybatska Street, but the repairs concerned sections where the road surface was already in place and patch repairs could be carried out.

The village council noted that, in order to fully upgrade the road on Rybatska Street, design and cost estimate documentation must first be prepared, and the community lacks the funds for this.

«In order to start resurfacing the road, we need the funds. But, unfortunately, there are currently no budgetary funds available for such expenditure. Consequently, as I understand it, it won’t be enough to get by with just 200–300 thousand hryvnias and some patchwork repairs. «To begin with, we need to draw up the design and cost estimates, bearing in mind that, particularly this year, we have a 95 per cent budget shortfall after nine months and have already failed to receive the remaining funds,» replied the village council in response to the enquiry.

Svitlana Talokha, secretary of the Kobleve village council, noted that the community’s total need for road repairs exceeds 130 million hryvnias. This sum covers not only Rybatska Street but also other problem areas.

Svitlana Talokha noted that similar problems exist in other remote settlements within the community. She explained that in Rybakivka, the water supply network was laid first, whilst road improvements were planned for a later date.

At the same time, the village council has promised to re-inspect the condition of the road and determine whether the deepest potholes can be filled in. According to Svitlana Talokha, there are no plans for major road construction in the near future.

It was also noted during the meeting that the possibility of road repairs in 2027 will depend, in particular, on state funding. The final allocation of funds amongst the communities is not yet known.

It should be recalled that in 2026, around 80 million hryvnias were earmarked for road maintenance in Mykolaiv, although the municipal enterprise «ELU Avtodorig» estimated the requirement at 170 million. Due to a lack of funds, the company has focused primarily on patching potholes.

What is the situation with road repairs in Mykolaiv?

Following this year’s winter, deep potholes have appeared on Mykolaiv’s roads due to the effects of freeze-thaw cycles and the de-icing agents that were spread over the tarmac.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that the city budget currently lacks funds for routine and major road repairs. He noted that the budget allocates just 20 million hryvnias exclusively for patching potholes throughout the year.

Meanwhile, in a comment to NikVesti, Vitalii Shevchenko, director of the municipal enterprise «ELU Avtodorig», explained that there will be no large-scale pothole repairs on Mykolaiv’s roads for about another month due to unstable weather conditions and the dampness of the road sub-base.

In early March, municipal workers began carrying out pothole repairs on Tsentralnyi Avenue.

And it was decided to allocate 14 million hryvnias from Mykolaiv’s budget for emergency and pothole repairs to the roads.

As of May 2026, over 8,500 square metres of roads with emergency potholes had been repaired in Mykolaiv. At the same time, the municipal enterprise «ELU Avtodorig» has announced a tender for the repair of potholes and other deformations in the asphalt concrete surface in Mykolaiv. Over 3 million hryvnias are planned to be allocated for the works.