Over the past year and a half, the Odessa municipal government has not set a date for the election of the city’s chief architect

For over a year now, the Odessa municipal government has been unable to set a date for the competition to select the city’s chief architect, who is also set to head the Department of Architecture, Urban Planning, and Land Relations, established in the spring of 2025.

The Department of Architecture reported this in a response to a request from Intenta.

However, the department’s interim acting director, Nadiya Novikova, noted that the procedure and process for holding the competition to fill the position of director of the Odessa City Council’s Department of Architecture, Urban Planning, and Land Relations—the city’s chief architect—are carried out in accordance with the resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated February 15, 2002, “On Approval of the Procedure for Conducting Competitive Selection Processes to Fill Vacant Civil Service Positions” and Article 14 of the Law of Ukraine “On Architectural Activity.”

Nadiya Novikova has served as acting director of the department and chief architect of the city since May 2025. And in March of that same year, then-Mayor Hennadiy transferred her from her position as director of the Department of Land Resourcesto head the Department of Architectureand Urban Planning. On April 16, 2025, these two departments weremerged into a single body, a move intended to speed up the decision-making process, reduce staff, and save over 23 million hryvnias.

The idea was criticized at the time by some city council members, who pointed out the absence of a chief architect in Odesa. However, during a meeting of the commission on land-use planning, urban design, architecture, and cultural heritage protection,Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Filatov promised that a competition for the position would be held by the end of 2025.  

The competition for this position was announced even before the full-scale war began, but it has not yet been completed. The authorities haveassured that the new department will beheaded by an administrator, and the city’s chief architect will serve as his deputy—following the example of other Ukrainian cities.

Кирило Бойко