What is the Executive Committee of Odesa City Council and how it is formed

With this material, Intent continues its series of publications on the work of local governments. Today we will focus on the activities of the executive committee.

What is an executive committee and what does it do?

Theexecutive committee (executive committee) is the main executive and administrative body of the city council, which acts as the government of the community. It prepares draft resolutions for council sessions, forms the budget, resolves issues of housing and communal services, social protection, and other issues that fall within the responsibility of executive bodies, and coordinates the work of departments, offices, and divisions.

Unlike the government, where the composition is determined solely by the positions of its members, the executive committee is formed according to slightly different criteria. The executive committee includes:

• Ex officio: the city mayor, who heads the executive committee; the council secretary; deputy mayors; and the manager (secretary) of the executive committee.
• Heads of departments, offices, divisions included in the executive committee.
• Other persons working on a voluntary basis.

The total number and personnel composition of the executive committee is approved by the council on the proposal of the city mayor.

The main form of work of the executive committee is its meetings, which result in decision-making. Meetings of the executive committee are held as needed, but at least once a month, and are quorate if more than half of the total membership of the executive committee is present.

What are the rules of the executive committee?

As of today, the Law "On Local Self-Government in Ukraine" does not specify which documents regulate the activities of the executive committee. At the same time, the Charter of Odesa states that

• The powers of the executive committee are determined by the city council on the basis of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Law of Ukraine 'On Local Self-Government in Ukraine', and other laws of Ukraine (Article 16(4)(1) of the Charter).
• The forms and procedure of work of the executive committee are determined by the legislation of Ukraine on local self-government, the Regulation on the Executive Committee approved by the city council, and the Rules of Procedure of executive bodies of the city council approved by the executive committee (Article 16(7) of the Charter).

The Regulation on the Executive Committee of Odesa City Council details the powers of the executive committee, rights and duties of the executive committee members, procedure and form of work of the executive committee, etc. The Regulations on Executive Bodies of Odesa City Council detail organizational and procedural issues of activities of both the executive committee and its subordinate departments, offices, district administrations and other executive bodies established by the council.

While the Regulations are a relatively new document, adopted in a new version on November 19, 2025, the Rules of Procedure were adopted on November 31, 2005. Despite numerous amendments, the Regulations contain provisions that are currently outdated (e.g., the use of floppy disks) or contradict the requirements of current legislation (e.g., the use of the Russian language in official documents). In addition, it is difficult to find the text of the Regulations with all the changes made to it.

Who are the members of the executive committee?

Let's take a closer look at the composition of the executive committee. As of December 2, 2020, it consisted of 15 members: 8 representatives of the executive bodies of the city council (6 of them ex officio) and 7 other persons. In 2021-2025, the composition of the executive committee changed several times. Both its members and the total number of members changed, ranging from 14 to 16 people. At the same time, representatives of local self-government have always made up the majority of the executive committee.

The situation changed after the introduction of the military administration in Odesa. On December 12, 2025, the city council approved a new 15-member executive committee. It included 7 representatives of local self-government (taking into account Olena Pavlova's transition to the position of pro bono advisor to the mayor), 5 other members, and 3 deputy heads of the Odesa City Military Administration. On February 25, 2026, the number of members of the executive committee was increased to 16. At the same time, the number of deputy heads of the Odesa city military administration in the executive committee increased from three to four.

As of today, no documents have been found that would define the criteria or procedure for including representatives of local self-government and other persons in the executive committee.

Сергій Бондаренко