Community property is being auctioned off during the war: Mykolaiv among the leaders in privatization rates

Recently Mykolaiv was visited on a working trip by a team from the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine led by Deputy Minister Darina Marchak. This was reported by the Mykolaiv City Council. During a meeting with representatives of city and regional authorities, as well as local communities, they discussed asset management, the labor market, the transfer of municipal facilities and mechanisms intended to simplify the work of communities.

One of the main topics was much sharper: Mykolaiv is actively selling municipal property during the war, and the Ministry of Economy called it a successful example.

From the city council, the meeting was attended by Deputy Mayor Serhii Koreniev, City Council Secretary Dmytro Falko, Director of the Department of Economic Development Tetiana Shulichenko and representatives of municipal enterprises. The mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, joined the discussion online.

Darina Marchak noted that Mykolaiv is one of the leaders in Ukraine in terms of the pace of privatization of municipal property and raising funds for the local budget. According to her, even despite proximity to the front and security risks, the auctions demonstrated a high level of competition.

“This is a good indicator that you are moving from simply maintaining unused buildings to understanding that community property is an asset and an opportunity to attract investment for development. I was pleasantly surprised by the high level of competition at the auctions. We are glad that you are already using the opportunities that the legislation opens up,” – said Darina Marchak.

However, in a frontline city such praise sounds ambiguous. When a community is living through a war, any sale of municipal property requires maximum transparency and strict control. Because between “attracting investments” and a sell-off of the community’s property the line can be very thin.

Separately, Darina Marchak highlighted Mykolaiv’s work on implementing corporate governance. According to her, the practice of creating supervisory boards at municipal enterprises should continue to spread. Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that Mykolaiv is cooperating with the Anti-Corruption Initiative of the European Union in Ukraine – EUACI, and corporatization is one of the key issues for the city authorities.

“We are the number one partner of the Anti-Corruption Initiative of the European Union in Ukraine (EUACI), and the issue of corporatization is one of our key priorities. We were the first in Ukraine who, together with EUACI, carried out an integrity assessment of the city’s largest municipal enterprises. After establishing a supervisory board at ‘Mykolaivvodokanal’ we plan similar changes at two other major enterprises. It is important to change processes fundamentally, and that is what we are working on now,” – said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Serhii Koreniev presented the results of the city’s and international partners’ work on creating a supervisory board at the municipal enterprise “Mykolaivvodokanal”. Work is also underway on supervisory boards at the enterprises “Mykolaivelektrotrans” and “Mykolaivoblteploenergo”. As part of the visit, ministry representatives also visited “Mykolaivelektrotrans”. The delegation included the director of the State Employment Service, Yuliia Zhovtiak.

Guests were shown the operation of the city electric transport, a training classroom for future drivers and the personnel training process. They also discussed updating the rolling stock and cooperation with international partners.

On paper everything looks like modernization: supervisory boards, corporatization, investments, auctions. But for city residents during the war the main question remains: will “efficient asset management” not become a sell-off of what the community will no longer be able to get back?

Recall, we previously wrote:

• Protesters fought over the cinema in the Korable district: how “Rovesnyk” was sold for almost 2.75 million less
• Boiler houses and basements are looking for a new owner: in Mykolaiv municipal property is being prepared for sale
• Mykolaiv boosted the budget: almost 86 million – from the sale of municipal property
• Mykolaiv is selling off the past: the iconic cinema of the Korable district “Rovesnyk” will go under the hammer
• Base in Koblevo, an old hospital and basements… Mykolaiv is selling off property. Full list