A waste sorting tender in Mykolaiv fell through

In Mykolaiv, the competitive bidding process to select a company to sort household waste in the city ended without a winner. The sole bidder failed to achieve the minimum number of points, so city officials will announce a new bidding process in the near future.

This was reported by Nikcenter.

On July 22, the final stage of the competition to select a household waste sorting contractor took place at the Mykolaiv City Council’s Department of Municipal Services. The sole bidder was LNK Recycling LLC; however, the selection committee declared the tender void.

The company sought the right to sort waste in Mykolaiv for 15 years, with the option to extend the contract for another ten years. Under the terms of the competition, the winner was to build a sorting line at its own expense, and the city would guarantee the supply of waste for processing.

This year, participants were evaluated based on nine criteria. LNK Recycling LLC received zero points on three of these criteria because it failed to confirm that it had the necessary equipment, technical staff, and experience in the field of waste management. Commission members also gave a low rating to the concept for the future facility.

Based on the evaluation results, the company scored 44.7 points—just 0.3 points short of the minimum required to win.

During the meeting, it was reported that the construction of the sorting line is preliminarily estimated to cost over 214 million hryvnias. The company stated that it is prepared to finance the project with its own funds, which it confirmed with a letter of guarantee.

The Department of Municipal Services announced that a new tender will be issued in the coming days, after which participants will have 30 days to submit their applications.

This is the city’s third attempt to select a waste sorting operator. The first tender did not take place due to a lack of participants, and the results of the second, held in 2025, were annulled after criminal proceedings were initiated.

According to journalists, the current sole participant in the tender—LNK Recycling LLC—is linked to last year’s bidder for a long-term contract, Waste to Energy Nico LLC. Specifically, the company’s current director, Dmytro Goncharov, previously headed that very company, and last year its ultimate beneficiary was LNK Recycling LLC.

Additionally, in March, city council members did not support a resolution to approve the operating procedures for the household waste sorting facility.

Анна Бальчінос