I don’t trust people. Sometimes I don’t even trust myself, — Mykolaiv mayor says he doesn’t rely on officials’ honesty

Mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Sienkevych calls digitalization one way to reduce corruption risks in government bodies. He shared his position on September 29 in Kyiv at a forum organized by the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI), where participants discussed combating corruption and making the work of government more transparent.

The mayor believes that officials’ honesty alone is not enough: a system is needed that leaves fewer opportunities for abuse. After all, anyone can give in to temptation.

“I don’t trust people. Sometimes I don’t even trust myself. I say this constantly: where there are people, there is temptation; where there is temptation, there is sin. If a person is given the opportunity to be tempted, they will sin,” said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The mayor linked this approach to a Christian prayer:

“When we pray to God, when we pray ‘Our Father’, we ask the Lord not to lead us into temptation, because we can be tempted. So our task is to minimize these risks of temptation,” said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

In his view, digitalization should help make government decisions more accessible to the public. The more information people can see, the harder it is to conceal potential abuses. The mayor described the need to open up data as follows:

“Cockroaches don’t like the light, so we simply need to shed as much light as possible and open up as much data as possible,” emphasized Oleksandr Sienkevych.

He cited Mykolaiv’s land registry as a practical example. Before the full-scale invasion, this tool was open: residents could view plots of land on a map and find the city council decisions related to them.

Now, according to the mayor, public access to the registry is restricted. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) required this for security reasons, but the registry itself is still operational.

At the same forum, Oleksandr Sienkevych also spoke about other measures to reduce corruption risks in Mykolaiv:

• changes to the procurement system;
• reform of the city government structure;
• establishment of supervisory boards at municipal enterprises.

We reported earlier:

• Sienkevych reports in Kyiv on Mykolaiv’s anti-corruption reforms
• Five to oversee Mykolaivelektrotrans: who is vying for seats on the supervisory board
• Millions under oversight? Supervisory board for Mykolaivvodokanal approved, with foreign nationals and lawyers among its members
• Supervisory boards: will tariffs rise after “Sienkevych’s reforms” at municipal enterprises?
• You can use it: Mykolaiv unveils its urban planning cadastre website