Odesa City Council Creates New Urban Development and Defense Departments

Members of the Odesa City Council have decided to establish two new departments. One is the Department of Urban Development and Land Relations. Another department will be for defense, mobilization and territorial security.

The decision was made during the session on April 16, which was broadcast by Intent.

The Department of Architecture and Urban Development and the Department of Land Resources were merged into a single body, which, according to the city council leadership, will speed up the decision-making process, reduce staff and save more than 23 million hryvnias.

The initiative came shortly after the detention of Marat Kasimov, acting director of the Department of Architecture, who is suspected of bribery. His duties are temporarily being performed by Nadiya Novikova, head of the "land" department. According to First Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Filatov, after the merger, 87 employees will remain instead of 104, which will reduce the budget for maintenance costs from 73.3 to 49.9 million hryvnias.

Despite the economic benefits, the idea was criticized by some deputies, who pointed to the lack of a chief architect for Odesa. The competition for this position was announced before the full-scale war, but has not yet been completed. The authorities assured that the new department would be headed by a manager, with the city's chief architect as his deputy, following the example of other Ukrainian cities.

The decision was passed: 45 deputies voted in favor, 1 abstained, and 1 did not vote.

City council members also voted to create another subdivision, the Department of Defense, Mobilization and Territorial Security. It will be responsible for coordinating actions to maintain the city's defense capability, compiling lists of persons liable for military service and notifying them. According to Oleksandr Filatov, the new department will help to better organize the city's work under martial law and meet the new legislative requirements that provide for the transfer of some of the TCC's powers to local authorities.

Ірина Глухова