Credit Lines, Land, and Privatization: Odesa City Council Schedules a Session

Members of the Odesa City Council were convened for a regular session on July 8 to consider more than 180 items, most of which pertain to finances and land.

As usual,Intent will stream the meeting online.

Land issues make up the largest block—120 of them—and concern: granting citizens permission to develop land-use planning projects for the allocation of land plots for lease, the renewal or termination of land lease agreements, and amendments to lease agreements, revising rent payments, granting permits to business entities to develop technical land-management documentation for the inventory of municipally owned land, technical land-management documentation for establishing (restoring) land plot boundaries on-site (in the field), technical land management documentation regarding the division and consolidation of land plots, etc. The city council will submit all these matters to the Odesa City Military Administration for consideration.

Credit lines worth millions for municipal utilities

Issues regarding municipal enterprises taking out loans under state programs will be addressed separately. At the special session on June 11—which was convened specifically for this purpose—council members increased the authorized capital of a number of enterprises, and these enterprises can now open credit lines under the “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%” program. 

Specifically: 

• The municipal enterprise “Odesa Electrical Engineering, Maintenance, and Installation Company” by 47 million 362 thousand hryvnias. 
• The “City Roads” Municipal Enterprise by 136 million 802.4 thousand hryvnias.
• The municipal enterprise “Miskzelentrest” received 44 million.
• The municipal enterprise “Odessmiskosvitlo” (Outdoor Lighting Networks) received 30 million 325.2 thousand hryvnias.
• Municipal Enterprise “Vuzivskyi Housing and Communal Services” received 53,984,600 hryvnias.
• Municipal Enterprise “Housing and Communal Services ‘Chornomorsky’”: 46 million 557.6 thousand hryvnias.
• Municipal Enterprise “Khmelnytskyi Housing and Communal Services” received 28 million hryvnias.    
• Municipal Enterprise “Porto-Frankivsk Housing and Communal Services” received 20 million 253.6 thousand hryvnias.
• Municipal Enterprise “Fontansky Housing and Communal Services” for 60 million 775 thousand hryvnias.

All credit lines will be opened at “Ukrgazbank,” all for up to 60 months, all with a subsidized interest rate of 1% per annum. 

Separately, deputies will be asked to approve agreements on arranging loan financing for the Project to modernize the district heating system in the city of Odesa. This involves opening a credit line through which the city plans to secure35 million euros from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. At the same time, the possibility of securing a long-term loan from the EBRD in the amount of up to 25 million euros and obtaining grant co-financing for the project in the amount of up to 10 million euros is being considered. As Andriy Rozov, Director of the Economic Development Department of the Odesa City Council, explained at a meeting of the Committee on Budget Planning and Finance on July 7, it will not be possible to receive the 10 million euro grant without securing a loan. However, this does not mean that the city will receive a 25 million euro loan on which it will pay interest. This refers to a credit line under which, if the city needs a certain amount—for example, the equivalent of 1.5 million euros or less—it draws down those funds and pays interest on them, rather than on the full 25 million.

What else is interesting?

At a meeting of the Housing and Utilities Committee, Infox LLC presented a document titled “Infox LLC Investment Program for 2026.” The program sparked a lively debate among the deputies, and the most vocal among them were advised to save their objections for the session; thus, the issue—even though it is not on the tentative agenda—may well be added to it and spark controversy among the elected officials.

There are also plans to introduce a fee for vehicle parking spaces in Odesa. The director of the municipal enterprise “Odestransparkservice,” Yevhen Tyabus, reported at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Transportation and Road Infrastructure on June 23 that the newdraftresolution takes into account the grievances that led to the lawsuit and the cancellation of the previous rates. 

Кирило Бойко