A company has been selected for waste sorting in Mykolaiv: the results of the tender are to be approved at the council meeting

A rubbish bin in Mykolaiv, photo: NikVesti

Following the results of the fourth tender, members of the Mykolaiv City Council will be asked to appoint LNK Recycling Ltd as the waste sorting operator for the city.

The relevant draft resolution has been submitted for consideration at the City Council session.

According to the document, the basis for the decision was the minutes of the tender committee meeting held on 9 October 2026. It was this committee that organised the tender to select the company that will sort waste generated in Mykolaiv.

If councillors support the draft resolution, LNK Recycling Ltd will be officially designated as the operator responsible for sorting household waste in the city.

The document also states that oversight of the decision’s implementation will be entrusted to two standing councillors’ committees — on housing and communal services and on legality — as well as to the deputy mayor, Yurii Andriienko.

Draft resolution on the designation of a waste sorting operator in Mykolaiv

Draft resolution on the designation of the waste sorting operator in Mykolaiv

In early October, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych explained in an interview with the publication «Apostrophe» that the company «LNK Recycling» had entered the tender because it already operates in Mykolaiv and had previously invested in the city. According to him, the company had previously failed to pass the selection process due to questions from councillors regarding the number of employees and the availability of funds.

«But the company says: how can we hire workers when there’s nothing to sort yet? We’ll build the line and then hire people,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

According to the mayor, the parent company is prepared to provide the funds for the project, but to do so, the company must first win the tender.

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Oleksandr Sienkevych estimates that Mykolaiv will need at least 30 million hryvnias for the waste sorting line.

It should be noted that the company «LNK Recycling» had already won the previous tender, but no contract was signed with them. As is known, at its session on 28 August 2025, the Mykolaiv City Council passed a resolution refusing to approve the results of the tender to select a waste sorting company and refusing to conclude the relevant contract with «Waste to Energy Niko» Ltd.

LNK Recycling Ltd, as the founder of Waste to Energy Niko Ltd, was disappointed that the city of Mykolaiv and the company were unable to sign a contract for the construction of a waste sorting line.

It should be recalled that in September, the tender committee responsible for selecting the operator of the solid household waste sorting line met to determine the winner of the tender. During the meeting, committee members raised further questions regarding the participant’s documents, in particular concerning its financial position.

It should also be recalled that following the failure of the third tender to select an operator for the household waste sorting facility, the Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stated that he was prepared to support changes to the tender rules if councillors put forward such proposals. However, immediately afterwards, a fourth tender was announced under the same rules, which was due to run until 31 August.

At the session of the Mykolaiv City Council on 27 August, a heated debate erupted regarding the current terms of the tender to select a household waste sorting operator, involving the Mayor of Mykolaiv.

Fedir Panchenko also outlined all his comments in detail at the meeting of the Budget Committee on 25 August. He gave a presentation in which he set out the rationale behind all his proposals. Further details can be found in the article at NikVesti.

The situation regarding the construction of the waste sorting line in Mykolaiv

Mykolaiv had announced a similar tender three times, but was unable to select an operator on those occasions.

In 2024, councillors approved the operating procedures for the solid waste sorting complex and announced an investment tender. The first tender did not take place, whilst the second was won by Waste To Energy Niko LLC. However, the company received only the minimum required score, and councillors and the then head of the Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, criticised the lack of transparency in the procedure and the unfavourable terms.

Law enforcement agencies opened an investigation and carried out searches at the city council. At the session on 28 August, councillors did not support the approval of the contract with the winning bidder. Following this, the city authorities began preparing new terms for the tender. Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that the process would be public, involving international partners, notably from Denmark.

At the session, councillors were due to approve the updated operating procedures for the household waste sorting complex. However, in March 2026, the vote failed. It was, however, approved a month later, in May.

Only one company submitted a bid for the repeat tender to select the company that would build and operate the waste sorting complex in Mykolaiv: LNK Recycling, part of the Ukrainian-American LNK Group. The French company Veolia, which had previously expressed an interest in participating, did not submit a bid.

However, no winner was selected. The sole participant did not achieve the required number of points from the commission.

In general, the issue of waste sorting in Mykolaiv was first raised back in 2019, when the cost of two sorting lines was estimated at approximately 10 million hryvnias. At the time, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych insisted that the costs should be borne by investors, rather than the city budget. Although a waste management programme was adopted, it was never implemented.

The Supreme Court ruled that the city council’s inaction was unlawful and ordered the construction of a waste sorting line, as the landfill site, which has been in operation since 1972, has reached the end of its useful life.