Yuzhnoukrainsk was left without an approved budget for 2026

Pivdennoukrainsk was left without a budget for 2026 due to disruptions of city council sessions. In response, the mayor asked the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration to introduce a military administration.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations with reference to Mayor Valeriy Onufrienko.

In Pivdennoukrainsk, city council members once again failed to gather for a meeting, leaving the community without an approved budget for 2026. At the end of the year, Mayor Onufrienko repeatedly convened both scheduled and extraordinary sessions, emphasizing the critical need to adopt a financial document and decisions important for the stable operation of the city.

In particular, on December 24, an extraordinary session initiated by 16 deputies did not take place. The mayor agreed to their request and proposed an agenda of five issues, including both mandatory issues and those directly related to the needs of the community. However, only two of the sixteen deputies who had signed the request to convene the meeting showed up at the scheduled time.

Against the backdrop of the disruption of the meeting, accusations were made on social media against the mayor and the council secretary, alleging that they were unable to ensure the work of the deputy corps. However, as the mayor emphasized, the responsibility for participation in the meetings lies with the deputies, not with the council leadership.

In addition, the issues that the deputies demanded to be considered at the extraordinary session had already been included in the agenda of the 67th session of the city council, which included 73 issues. The deputies had the opportunity to support these decisions, reject them or withdraw them from consideration, but instead chose not to participate in the meetings.

As a result, Pivdenoukrainsk's budget for 2026 was never adopted. According to the mayor, this creates serious financial and social risks for the community. He also noted that this behavior of the deputies shows that political interests prevail over the real needs of the community.

In connection with the ongoing crisis in the city council, Onufrienko appealed to the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration , Vitaliy Kim, to introduce a military administration in the Pivdenne city territorial community.

In August, the court ordered law enforcement to register the information in the URPTI based on the application of Deputy Mayor Serhiy Hornostai. He claimed that the mayor of Pivdenoukrainsk, Valeriy Onufrienko, had allegedly forged documents and illegally employed an official, which, according to his estimates, caused the community to suffer losses of more than UAH 910,000.

In October, the court dismissed the prosecutor's motion to remove from office the mayor of Pivdenoukrainsk, who is accused of beating his deputy during an official meeting.

Анна Бальчінос