Mykolaiv faces a projected budget shortfall: the return of military personal income tax is no longer promised

Mykolaiv community may not have enough own-source revenue to operate stably and effectively. Finance Department Director Vira Sviatelyk presented these findings from the resumed medium-term budget forecasting at a session of the Mykolaiv City Council on October 29, 2026. According to youtube.com.

The community’s budget forecast for 2027–2029 projects the following revenues:

• 2027 — 5.671 billion hryvnias;
• 2028 — 6.266 billion hryvnias;
• 2029 — 6.876 billion hryvnias.

“We have resumed forecasting for the next two years, and unfortunately, the forecast has shown that the Mykolaiv community does not have enough funds to operate sustainably and effectively,” said Vira Sviatelyk.

The current projections differ significantly from last year’s calculations. The city no longer expects the military personal income tax to be returned to the local budget from 2027.

“Unfortunately, last year’s forecast, which said in the Ministry of Finance’s methodological recommendations that the military personal income tax would be returned to us from 2027, has not come to pass. And this year, there is no promise that it will be returned either. So we must rely exclusively on our own revenues,” explained Finance Department Director Vira Sviatelyk.

The draft forecast identifies the following spending priorities:

• equipping shelters in educational institutions;
• creating safe environments for children;
• supporting the operation of municipal healthcare facilities;
• developing rehabilitation services;
• providing social support to vulnerable groups.

These are projected financial figures for the medium term, not fixed amounts. They may be adjusted in response to the economic situation, legislative changes and the community’s actual revenues.

The current year’s budget is also facing shortfalls. At a meeting of the City Council’s Budget Commission, Vira Sviatelyk reported that the revenue side of Mykolaiv’s budget had fallen short by 66 million hryvnias for January–September 2026. Spending during this period was at 82% of the planned amount.

“I have a fundamental question. This year’s budget was essentially turned into a budget for the bright future of municipal enterprises. I’d like to hear how effective that option has been,” said council member Olena Kiselova (European Solidarity).

The council member asked for actual expenditure figures for 2026 and projections for the coming years for:

• municipal enterprises;
• City Council executive bodies;
• municipal institutions.

Olena Kiselova also asked specifically about funding for equipping and repairing shelters.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych had instructed chief budget administrators to review their needs through the end of the year and forgo funding they would not be able to use. However, none of them gave up the allocated funds.

In early October 2026, Mykolaiv made its third appeal to the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers, requesting 819.1 million hryvnias for urgent needs through the end of the year.

The city’s stated needs included:

• water supply and heating — 412.7 million hryvnias, the largest amount;
• salaries for employees of publicly funded institutions — 138.8 million hryvnias;
• utility bills and energy costs — 106.3 million hryvnias;
• passenger transport by electric transit — 96.7 million hryvnias.

According to Oleksandr Sienkevych, reviewing expenditure during the year made it possible to save around 481 million hryvnias. However, those savings were not enough to fully cover the community’s needs.

Delays in budget payments by the Treasury have created an additional problem. According to the city authorities, as of October 12, invoices totaling more than 370 million hryvnias remained unpaid. These included payments for completed construction work and transfers to municipal enterprises.

We previously reported:

• Mykolaiv asks the state for 819.1 million hryvnias for the community’s urgent needs
• Authorities warn of a “shutdown”: Mykolaiv says it could run out of money as early as November
• “Survival budget”: Mykolaiv adopts its 2026 budget with a billion-hryvnia deficit and controversy over bonuses
• Sienkevych complains of a funding shortage in Mykolaiv and urges the government to reinstate the “military” personal income tax
• Parliament takes the “military” personal income tax from local budgets