Mykolaiv City Council Refuses to Approve Public Budget Due to Lack of Funds

Members of the Mykolaiv City Council did not support the Public Budget program for 2026-2028. Some of the deputies said that it was inappropriate to hold tenders without a guarantee of further funding in the face of a budget deficit.

The decision was made during a session of the Mykolaiv City Council.

The participatory budgeting program in Mykolaiv has been in place since September 2017. It allows residents to propose their own projects and influence the allocation of part of the city budget. At the session, Olena Kiselyova, a deputy and head of the Legality Commission, noted that there are currently enough grants and donor programs to implement civic initiatives, and holding competitions in 2026 would be "irrational."

According to her, the organizational and financial resources spent on preparing and holding competitions do not provide the expected effect, and the city's budget needs to be prioritized for key needs, including security and critical infrastructure. Kiselyova proposed to impose a moratorium on participatory budgeting in 2026 and first deal with the projects left over from 2022.

Yuriy Stepanets, a member of the Servant of the People party, spoke in favor of preserving the program, emphasizing that city residents support its return. He noted that participatory budgeting allows the community to independently identify important projects, especially when international donors refuse to fund social initiatives.

In response, Kiselyova emphasized that holding competitions without a guarantee of funding is inappropriate and can lead to wasting resources without real results. She emphasized the need to prioritize the city so that funds are directed to critical projects rather than less important initiatives.

As a result, the Public Budget program for 2026-2028 was not approved.

In January, the executive committee of Mykolaiv approved the investment program of Mykolaivoblteploenergo for the next year. Almost 18 million will be spent on technical re-equipment and installation of the previously purchased boiler house, and more than 9 million will be spent on reconstruction of heating networks on Dniprovska Street.

Анна Бальчінос