Seven-figure salaries amid losses: directors of Mykolaiv municipal enterprises earn as much as entire brigades of workers

Losses in the hundreds of millions, while salaries are rising: which director of Mykolaiv's municipal enterprises became a "millionaire on subsidies"

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22 May 2026

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Journalists Nikcenter analyzed the declarations of the heads of communal enterprises of the Mykolaiv region for 2025 and the companies’ publicly available financial reports. The result was telling: while the community prepares for new tariffs and the KP themselves often rely on budget subsidies, the salaries of their leadership remain very high and for some directors continue to increase.

According to the investigation, in 2025 as many as 8 directors of communal enterprises received more than 1 million hryvnias at their main place of work. All of them work within the structure of enterprises subordinate to the city authorities of Mykolaiv and the city mayor Oleksandr Senkevych.

The highest income among communal managers was declared by the director of OKP “Mykolaivoblteploenergo” Mykola Logvinov — 2.8 mln UAH for the year.
His salary for 2025 increased by 681 thousand UAH.
In second place is the director of KP “Mykolaivkomuntrans” Andriy Vetsalo, who received 1.76 mln UAH.
Third in the ranking was the now-former technical director of “Mykolaivvodokanal” Vasyl Telpis, who, after the death of Borys Dudenko, temporarily performed the duties of the enterprise’s head and declared 1.29 mln UAH.

Also among the communal “millionaires” are the director of KP “Mykolaivelektrotrans” Yurii Smetana — 1.26 mln UAH,
the director of KP “Mykolaiv Parks” Dmytro Chuchmai — 1.22 mln UAH,
the head of KSMEP Hryhoriy Patoka — 1.19 mln UAH,
the director of KP “DEZ “PILOT” Ihor Holovaty — 1.19 mln UAH,
and also the director of the Mykolaiv Intercity Bureau of Technical Inventory Ihor Kuzmin — over 1 mln UAH.

The situation with “Mykolaivoblteploenergo” looks particularly indicative. In 2025 the company’s losses increased by 107 mln UAH and reached 690 mln UAH. At the same time, the annual remuneration of director Mykola Logvinov increased by 32%. It was this enterprise that last year received 82 mln UAH in subsidies from the Mykolaiv budget through replenishment of the statutory fund.

Overall, in Mykolaiv 6 communal enterprises received subsidies from the city budget totaling 846 mln UAH. And if one takes into account expenses for free travel on electric transport and the purchase of buses, support for the city’s KPs cost the budget 1.4 bln UAH.

At the same time, the Mykolaiv budget for 2026 already provides another 940 mln UAH in subsidies for three strategic enterprises: “Mykolaivoblteploenergo”, “Mykolaivvodokanal” and “Mykolaivelektrotrans”.

A separate part of the investigation concerns the criminal trail surrounding some KPs. Among the highest-paid directors is Hryhoriy Patoka, who in January 2026 was suspended from his position after being suspected in a case of possible embezzlement of 1.2 mln UAH during the replacement of traffic lights. Despite this, his annual salary for 2025 amounted to 1.19 mln UAH.

The case of the director of KP “GDMБ” Oleksandr Ursolov concerns an alleged scheme of inflated prices during the purchase of LED luminaires for street lighting by almost 4 mln UAH. Ursolov himself declared over 600 thousand UAH in salary for 2025 as the enterprise’s director. Earlier “Korabeliv.INFO” also wrote about a verdict in a case concerning the embezzlement of funds during purchases for street lighting in Mykolaiv.

Another enterprise from the ranking is KP “Mykolaiv Parks”. Its director Dmytro Chuchmai declared 1.22 mln UAH in income for 2025. At the same time, law enforcement is investigating possible abuse of office by officials of this KP. According to the investigation, the enterprise may have concluded contracts with affiliated firms at inflated prices.

The largest amount of possible budget losses appears in the criminal proceedings concerning officials of KP “Mykolaivelektrotrans”, headed by Yurii Smetana. According to the investigation, budget losses for 2022–2025 are preliminarily estimated at over 196 mln UAH. “Korabeliv.INFO” wrote about this case separately: the investigation is checking city electric transport contracts and possible overpayments of budget funds.

Against this background, the gap between the salaries of managers and the employees of KPs looks especially stark. According to calculations by Nikcenter, the notional average monthly salary of the director of “Mykolaivoblteploenergo” Mykola Logvinov is 233 thousand UAH, while the average salary of an enterprise employee is about 19 thousand UAH. That is, the director receives 12.3 times more than the average employee.

In second place by the gap is KP “Mykolaiv Parks”. There the director Dmytro Chuchmai has a notional average monthly salary of about 101 thousand UAH, while the average employee salary is approximately 15 thousand UAH. The difference is 6.7 times. At KP “Mykolaivkomuntrans” director Andriy Vetsalo receives 5.9 times more than the average employee, and at “Mykolaivvodokanal” the difference is 5.6 times.

For frontline Mykolaiv, where communal workers daily operate under wartime conditions, eliminate accidents, maintain heat supply, water, transport and urban infrastructure after Russian attacks, such a gap looks especially painful. The question is not only about the size of managers’ salaries, but also about how well they correspond to the results of the enterprises’ work, which for years have required budgetary support.

In fact, the city has ended up in a situation where communal enterprises declare losses, receive subsidies from the budget, are involved in criminal proceedings, yet the managers’ salaries remain at a level unattainable for most employees of those same enterprises. And it is the city authorities who must explain to the community what specific results justify such payments to the heads of loss-making KPs.