Reconstruction of Children's Hospital in Mykolaiv for 600 million to be supervised by the Ministry of Health

The Mykolaiv Regional Council has transferred part of the management of the reconstruction of the children's hospital to the Ministry of Health. The Ministry will control construction, financing and contractors.

The deputies made the relevant decision during the thirty-fourth extraordinary session of the eighth convocation, taking into account the appeal of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

The changes concern the implementation of the project for the reconstruction of the municipal non-profit enterprise Mykolaiv Regional Children's Clinical Hospital, located at 21 Mykolaivska Street in Mykolaiv. This is the first stage of construction, which aims to provide quality and timely medical care to the children's population of the region.

With the updated decision, the regional council supported the initiative of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration to implement this project and determined the distribution of functions between the construction participants. Some of the customer's functions were transferred to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. In particular, the Ministry of Health will be responsible for selecting contractors for construction work, concluding contracts with them, and financing the work under the contracts.

The ministry is also responsible for selecting an engineering company to carry out technical supervision of the construction in accordance with the World Bank procedures, concluding a contract for engineering consulting services and financing such a contract. In addition, the Ministry of Health will ensure the overall coordination of construction works, daily monitoring of their implementation, as well as the development of an environmental and social management plan, which is mandatory for the contractor and the utility company involved in the project.

At the same time, the functions of the construction customer, as provided for by the current legislation of Ukraine, were retained by the municipal enterprise "Directorate for Capital Construction and Reconstruction" of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, except for those powers that were transferred to the Ministry of Health.

The Mykolaiv Regional Council, within the limits of its authority and the partnership and cooperation agreement, will coordinate and control the implementation of the project, as well as take the necessary measures to ensure that all participants fulfill their obligations.

The reconstruction of the hospital will be financed with funds raised under the Loan Agreement between Ukraine and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development dated December 22, 2022, as well as the Framework Loan Agreement for the implementation of the Healthcare Enhancement and Life Saving (HEAL Ukraine) project concluded between Ukraine and the Council of Europe Development Bank in June 2024.

The auction for the reconstruction of the children's hospital was announced in March 2025. This was the fourth stage of construction, and UAH 614.8 million was allocated for its implementation. The contractor was a company involved in criminal proceedings for embezzlement and regularly wins large budget tenders in the region.

Анна Бальчінос