Porridge on pause? Mykolaiv asks the state for money to feed children until the end of the year

71% of beneficiaries and empty quotas: children's nutrition at risk

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28 May 2026

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In Mykolaiv, city budget funds for organizing meals in preschool education institutions will be sufficient only until 24 June 2026. To avoid a disruption of children’s meals and to finance the service until the end of the year, deputies of the Mykolaiv City Council appealed to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to allocate an additional subsidy from the state budget. The corresponding draft decision was supported by deputies during the meeting of the session on 28 May 2026.

Head of the Education Department of the Mykolaiv City Council Hanna Lychko explained that when forming the city’s budget for 2026 it was not possible to fully cover the real needs of the education sector for meals.

“The need as of 1 January 2026 amounted to 324 959 332 hryvnias. We were allocated a maximum amount of 271 669 000 hryvnias. These funds are not sufficient according to our annual need. The expenditures we allocated for meals were largely directed to preschool institutions. After all, our schools have co-financing: to date 70% for feeding grades 1-11 comes from the state budget, and 30% – from the local budget. Whereas kindergartens and compensation payments are financed exclusively from the local budget“, – said Hanna Lychko.

According to the official, the current school year in the city was completed successfully and with full organization of meals. However, the limits provided specifically for preschool institutions are practically exhausted. Hanna Lychko emphasized that without additional funding the city risks being left without resources to pay for children’s meals in kindergartens in the coming weeks.

“We face the risk that the available funds may be sufficient only until 20 June. Therefore we have an urgent need for funding the feeding of preschool institutions”, – declared the head of the department.

Overall, to provide children with meals until the end of 2026, Mykolaiv additionally needs 149 million 485 thousand hryvnias.

The funding deficit is distributed as follows:

preschool education institutions – 109 million 126 thousand hryvnias;
general secondary education institutions – 33 million 310 thousand hryvnias;
the preschool department of the Mykolaiv Special School – 3.5 million hryvnias;
vocational and technical education institutions – 3.4 million hryvnias.

Hanna Lychko added that an analysis of the financial and economic state of the city’s budget for 2026 shows: the community on its own cannot cover this deficit. The situation is further complicated by the increase in the number of children from preferential categories who are entitled to free hot meals. When in Mykolaiv educational institutions were only beginning to reopen in phases, the share of such children was about 40%. Now, according to the head of the education department, the share of beneficiaries in city educational institutions has risen to 71%, and may increase even more by the end of the year.

During the discussion, deputy Olena Kiselova asked what the city would do if the state does not allocate the necessary funds. Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych replied that then they would have to urgently convene and look for resources within the local budget. At the same time Hanna Lychko noted that the Education Department has no free limits that could be reallocated to meals. Therefore, in the absence of state assistance, it will be necessary to review the budgets of other main spenders and carry out a reallocation of funds.

The head of the Education Department clarified that currently funds are available until 24 June. At the same time, the department plans to launch a tender soon for organizing meals in preschool institutions.

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