The Odessa City Council session was adjourned before it began

An attempt to convene the members of the Odesa City Council to resume the session on July 10 failed due to the absence of council members.

As Ihor Koval, acting chairman of the Odesa City Council, reported after checking the attendance list, only nine council members were present in the chamber. 

As a result, Ihor Koval adjourned the meeting, and the council members dispersed without even the traditional city anthem, which is always played at the end of a session. This regular session did not go according to plan, even from the moment it began on July 8. Thirty-four council members registered in the chamber; the ceremonial portion took place, but when they moved on to electronic voting to begin the session’s actual business, it turned out that only 32 were present. This is less than half of the total membership, so there was no quorum.  

Ihor Koval convened all the faction leaders for a meeting; they deliberated for over 20 minutes. Afterward, the chairman stated that it would not be possible to achieve a quorum and announced a recess until July 14. However, on July 9, he called a meeting for July 10, citing concerns from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with which the municipal enterprise “Odessa City Heat Supply” intends to open a 35-million-euro credit line. 

What Became a Stumbling Block

Problems with the session’s proceedings began to surface during earlier meetings, when the issue of expanding the city council’s executive committee arose; initially, it was proposed to include veteran Vadym Shipulin, a move strongly supported by deputies from the “Trust the Deeds” party faction, which was founded by former Mayor Gennady Trukhanov. Councilwoman Irina Yasinovich has been particularly vocal on this issue. However, Ihor Koval refused to include this issue on the agenda at that time and stated that candidates for the executive committee would be selected by the Veterans’ Council. According to the plan, the Veterans’ Council is supposed to consolidate the views of the veteran community and select a representative from among the veterans themselves, rather than from political parties.

As of July 8, the Veterans’ Council had apparently decided on the candidates and nominated Vadym Shipulin and Denys Kartashov. However, experts note that Vadym Shipulin’s candidacy is particularly controversial for city officials because he is linked to Hennadiy Trukhanov. In addition, activist Yana Titarenko stated that there was actually another candidate who was not even presented to the Veterans’ Council. 

What’s next?

Moving forward, experts believe that Igor Koval should separate the issue of loans and other matters concerning the city’s operations from the question of the executive committee’s composition and hold separate meetings. In particular, if the loans are so urgent, an extraordinary session should be convened to address them. At this time, the date for the new meeting has not yet been set.  

Кирило Бойко