Controversial plan to convert the square near "Zoria" into a gas station: the prosecutor's office has taken the case to court

District Prosecutor’s Office of the city of Mykolaiv has appealed to the Commercial Court demanding to cancel the city council’s decision, declare the lease agreement invalid and return to the community the land plot of 7,643 square meters. This was reported on July 9, 2026 by the Mykolaiv Region Prosecutor’s Office.

The disputed area is located at the intersection of Bohoyavlensky Avenue and Shura Kober Street. According to the General Plan of Mykolaiv, it belongs to a recreational public green zone and is densely planted with trees and other vegetation. The prosecutor’s office demands that the land be returned to the community in a usable condition, in particular by demolition of the unfinished construction, the readiness of which is about 5%.

The plot was first leased back in 2005 for the construction of a sports and recreation center. However, for almost ten years the lessee did not build it. Amid public outcry over the destruction of green plantings, the city council in 2015 refused to renew the agreement and obliged the company to return the land.

In 2023 courts of two instances confirmed the legality of that decision, finding that the lessee improperly fulfilled the terms of the contract and lost the right to its renewal. Despite this, in 2024 the Mykolaiv City Council again leased the same plot to the same company and for the same purposes. At the same time, deputies approved changing its designated use — for the construction of a gas station.

The prosecutor’s office emphasized that before the vote the city council’s legal department warned deputies about the lack of legal grounds for the repeated transfer of the land and violations of the competitive procedure for acquiring lease rights. The Commercial Court of the Mykolaiv Region has already opened proceedings in the case. The court hearing is ongoing.

Previously we wrote:

• Gas station instead of oaks: prosecutor in Mykolaiv opened a case over the scandalous construction
• Environmentalists said the green zone in Mykolaiv is of high value, where plans call for cutting down more than 200 trees
• The scandal over the square near “Zorya” reached a new level: the ministry recognized the development as permissible
• Sienkevych refused to say whether he is against the construction of a gas station in the green zone
• On Bohoyavlensky they planned to cut down 182 trees for a gas station, an ATB supermarket and an auto shop
• The mayor waved his hands, the architect blinked: no one “knew” about the destruction of oaks in Mykolaiv