E-ticket for Mykolaiv: 2.23 billion just to launch

The launch of an electronic ticketing system in Mykolaiv’s public transport is estimated at 2 billion 230 million hryvnias as of 2026. On October 27, at a meeting of the Mykolaiv City Council commission on housing and communal services, this figure was given by Oleh Kuksa, deputy head of the Department of Transport, Communications and Telecommunications. This amount covers implementation only; running the system will require separate monthly expenses.

The project’s history began well before the latest estimates. Plans, legislative changes and agreements concerning the e-ticket system unfolded as follows:

• 2016 — the introduction of such a system was first planned in Mykolaiv.
• February 2017 — the president signed a law introducing electronic tickets. It allows local governments to create automated fare payment systems and completely phase out paper tickets and cash payments.
• June 2017 — the then deputy mayor for infrastructure admitted that he did not know when the project would be implemented. At the same time, he claimed he had been working on the issue since the day he was appointed.
• May 2018 — Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych instructed officials to introduce the e-ticket system as soon as possible. By then, under the law, the system was already supposed to have been in operation for a year.
• June 1, 2018 — Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych and Volodymyr Yevtushenko, director of Mykolaivelektrotrans, signed a memorandum with Visa to launch a pilot electronic ticket project.
• The then head of the city’s Transport Department, Oleh Manushevych, promised to launch the system by the end of 2018 in both municipal electric transport and private minibuses. However, it did not happen by the promised deadline.

Speaking about the tenders, Oleh Kuksa named 2019 as the beginning of efforts to introduce the e-ticket system. That year, the executive committee announced a tender twice:

• March 18 — no one came forward to participate;
• April 25 — the tender was announced again, but its results were not approved by the executive committee.

The following year, one more tender was held. The applicants lacked the necessary funding and did not meet the stated requirements.

“At that time, in 2020, implementing the electronic ticket system cost 166 million 584 thousand 304 hryvnias. The proposal covered 111 municipal vehicles, excluding private transport,” said Oleh Kuksa.

In November 2020, plans for introducing electronic tickets on the city’s public transport were presented.

In September, the City Council’s housing and communal services commission decided to revisit the issue. The Transport Department was asked to provide:

• documents and estimates for the project;
• information about previous attempts to attract an investor.

Explaining the current implementation cost, Oleh Kuksa linked it, among other things, to the growth of the municipal transport fleet. It now comprises 223 vehicles. Private transport was not included in this estimate.

The operator’s services are a separate financial consideration. The previous estimate provided for a monthly fee of 5% per transaction. According to Oleh Kuksa, such services now cost around 8% in Ukraine.

Commission member Yevhen Prudnyk questioned whether such high expenditure was justified.

“This service is too expensive. An expensive service. It can’t be done with one click on a phone. It’s very expensive,” stressed Yevhen Prudnyk.

The discussion also touched on the choice between a private operator and creating a system within a municipal enterprise.

“We have spoken with other cities, but that doesn’t change the situation. Here’s the problem: if there’s a private operator, they could increase their percentage in one or two years, and the city would have to make concessions. If we don’t increase the percentage, the electronic ticket could turn into a system that doesn’t work. And if we create it within a municipal enterprise, we’ll need qualified employees who can calculate the costs and maintain the equipment,” explained Oleh Kuksa.

Yevhen Prudnyk also asked where the city would get the money to implement the e-ticket system.

“Well, that’s only to implement it; after that, money will also have to be spent on maintenance every month. This is the cost as of today, but no one can say how much it will cost tomorrow or the day after. Prices are rising every day,” said Oleh Kuksa.

The review concluded with the commission noting the Transport Department’s report on the work carried out to introduce electronic tickets on the city’s passenger transport.

We wrote earlier:

• “It’s expensive”—Senkevych has been promising a single ticket for public transport for years, but has yet to get beyond promises
• An automated public transport fare payment system was presented in Mykolaiv
• “Senkevych is forcing the issue”: a company linked to the “overseer”’s mother-in-law seeks permission to collect money as part of the electronic ticket launch
• Antimonopoly Committee rules Mykolaiv City Council’s introduction of the “electronic ticket” anti-competitive
• Mykolaiv residents promised that the introduction of electronic tickets for public transport would finally begin