Mykolaiv terminates cooperation with the contractor for the sorting station

Mykolaiv deputies denied the contract to the company that was supposed to build a sorting station in the city. The mayor promised to announce a new tender and continue working on the sorting station project.

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

Members of the Mykolaiv City Council did not support the decision to select a company to sort waste in the city. At the session of the city council, the majority of deputies voted to refuse to conclude an agreement with West Tu Energy Niko.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych reminded that this project has been in the works for more than four years. According to him, a feasibility study has already been developed and reviewed by the Antimonopoly Committee. The first tender did not take place due to the lack of participants, and during the second one, the contractor was selected. However, later, according to the mayor, an "information attack" began.

Senkevych said that the project was an investment project, not a budget project, and emphasized that no tenders for billions of hryvnias had been held. He also said that the prosecutor's office had seized documents from the mayor's office for inspection, and the city authorities plan to announce a new tender.

MP Tetyana Kyselyova denied rumors of possible pressure from the mayor and urged those interested to contact law enforcement if such cases did occur. She also proposed to introduce a moratorium on tariff increases for the tender participants. Deputy Fedir Panchenko reminded that three months ago the commission had already concluded that it was inappropriate to approve the results of the tender.

As a result, the deputies supported the decision to refuse to conclude a contract with West Tu Energy Niko.

Recently, the police opened a criminal investigation into alleged abuses by Mykolaiv City Council officials during the waste sorting tender. The investigation is focused on identifying a contractor to provide sorting services, with a project budget of UAH 1.25 billion and a 25-year contract, and law enforcement is conducting a series of checks.

Back in September last year, the deputies voted to approve the procedure for the tender for the construction of the sorting station, but did not support the decision at first. The mayor emphasized then that it was a technical issue that needed to be approved.

In January, the Mykolaiv City Council was ordered by the court to build a station for household waste. The Supreme Court recognized the prosecutor's arguments as reasonable and confirmed the unlawfulness of the city council's inaction, which opens the way to resolving the longstanding waste crisis that threatens the environment and the health of residents.

Анна Бальчінос