Lysak managed to redraw Odesa's budget at the end of 2025

As a result of the revision of Odesa's budget for 2025, the city's military administration under the leadership of Serhiy Lysak redistributed half a billion hryvnias between separate programs.

TheCenter for Public Investigations investigated how the budget of Odesa was changed after the formation of the Odesa City State Administration and the appointment of Serhiy Lysak as its head.

Revenues

There were no changes in the city's own revenues. The adjustments concerned only intergovernmental transfers.

First, the city received an additional subsidy of UAH 100 million promised by the Government. The funds were transferred to the city's accounts in November.

Second, Odesa received social subventions from the state budget totaling almost UAH 83 million. The bulk of these funds were allocated to support war veterans with disabilities.

Lending

First, funds to secure obligations for borrowers who received loans under local guarantees in the amount of UAH 107 million were not needed. They were redirected to other expenditures.

Secondly, the city's lending policy towards business entities has become stricter. The amount of funds that businesses have to return to the Odesa budget increased by UAH 1.7 million, while the volume of loans from the budget to business entities decreased by UAH 2.8 million.

Financing

This section of the budget reflects both the revenues used to finance current expenditures and the repayment of borrowings.

The first thing that catches our eye is that the city refused to take out a loan, which the city council voted for on August 27. At the time, Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov emphasized that the loan was necessary for the city's stability. However, the new leadership found out that the loan was not critically necessary. As a result, the UAH 80.2 million already received was fully repaid, and the remaining credit line of UAH 543.2 million was canceled.

The second issue that raises questions is the incomplete use of the balances of previous periods. According to the Treasury, the budget balances as of January 1, 2025, including the balances of subventions, amounted to UAH 1,471.9 million. UAH 1,429 million was allocated to finance expenditures, and another UAH 2 million formed the working balance of budget funds. Thus, UAH 40.9 million was not used to finance the city's needs.

Кирило Бойко