{"id":636697,"date":"2026-11-14T09:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T07:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/korabelov.info\/2026\/11\/636697\/a-kiosk-for-everyone-senkevych-has-been-trying-for-seven-years-to-figure-out-how-to-divide-up-the-kiosks-in-mykolaiv\/"},"modified":"2026-11-14T10:20:43","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T08:20:43","slug":"a-kiosk-for-everyone-senkevych-has-been-trying-for-seven-years-to-figure-out-how-to-divide-up-the-kiosks-in-mykolaiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/korabelov.info\/en\/2026\/11\/636697\/a-kiosk-for-everyone-senkevych-has-been-trying-for-seven-years-to-figure-out-how-to-divide-up-the-kiosks-in-mykolaiv\/","title":{"rendered":"A kiosk for everyone? Senkevych has been trying for seven years to figure out how to divide up the kiosks in Mykolaiv"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych<\/strong> has once again proposed changing how sites for retail kiosks and pavilions are allocated. He now wants businesses to obtain the right to install temporary structures through auctions, with the proceeds going to the city budget. During a staff meeting on November 9<\/strong>, the mayor instructed officials to draft the relevant regulations by the end of 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

However, this initiative is far from new. Back on December 17, 2019<\/strong>, Oleksandr Sienkevych<\/strong> proposed allocating kiosk sites through a competitive process. And in February 2026<\/strong>, the city\u2019s chief architect, Yevhen Poliakov<\/strong>, said that a new procedure involving auctions was already being developed. Despite this, in November the mayor once again tasked officials with preparing the relevant rules.<\/p>\n

The mayor is \u201cfed up\u201d with requests to install booths<\/h2>\n

During a staff meeting on November 9<\/strong>, Oleksandr Sienkevych<\/strong> said he regularly receives requests from business owners who want to install retail structures. He emphasized that he does not personally issue permits for their placement.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m fed up with people\u2014there are all sorts of people in Mykolaiv<\/strong> who come to me as mayor and constantly ask to install a temporary structure. In everyday parlance, a booth. In Mykolaiv<\/strong>, every self-respecting person should have a booth: not for a dog, but to make money from it.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Explaining why the current approval system raises questions, the mayor described a hypothetical situation in which one business owner is denied permission to place a kiosk, while another is later allowed to install the same kind of structure in the very same spot. According to the mayor, people had told him about similar cases.<\/p>\n

“So, hypothetically, how could this happen? Someone comes in and says: \u2018I\u2019ve found a spot for a nice little booth. I\u2019ll sell pies and buns.\u2019 And the location is suitable: everything is fine there. But the person is told at the council committee meeting: \u2018No, you can\u2019t.\u2019 Then some time passes, another person shows up in that exact same spot and wants to sell the same buns. And the council committee and the session tell them: \u2018You can.\u2019 Then it turns out that the first person is selling the buns, because they\u2019re renting the booth from the second person. People have told me this happens.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the mayor\u2019s view, such situations are precisely what should make the case for open auctions. At the same time, Oleksandr Sienkevych<\/strong> acknowledged that the new mechanism would have drawbacks: business owners with greater financial resources would be able to offer more for the sites than their competitors.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m setting a task to urgently draft, by the new year<\/strong>, regulations for auctions for easements to place temporary structures\u2026 Will it be a good system? Not really, to be honest. Again, the issue will be that people with greater financial means will take part in the auctions and offer more money, you understand? But the granting of this easement will still be more lawful and fair. Because, so to speak, it won\u2019t be granted to \u2018some person, for some reason,\u2019 but to everyone who wants it\u2014whoever wins the auction. Makes sense? It does. And the budget will receive more money.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The mayor instructed officials to study the new regulations thoroughly, including by looking at the experience of other cities.<\/p>\n

Back in 2019, Sienkevych proposed competitions instead of \u201cbooth barons\u201d<\/h2>\n

It is interesting that Oleksandr Sienkevych<\/strong> was talking about allocating sites for temporary structures through a competitive process almost seven years ago<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As Korabelov.info reported on December 17, 2019<\/a>, during a meeting with the heads of the city council\u2019s party groups, the mayor said that the number of temporary structures in Mykolaiv<\/strong> needed to be reduced, and that sites for them could be allocated through competitions in the future.<\/p>\n

At the time, the mayor claimed that approximately 60\u201380%<\/strong> of kiosks belonged to a certain circle of people, while the vendors themselves merely rented the retail structures from them. The mayor called these owners \u201cbooth barons.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his view, competitions would allow business owners to obtain sites through open bidding rather than on the basis of prior ownership of the structures. Sienkevych also expected this to increase revenue for the city budget.<\/p>\n

However, in 2019<\/strong> he did not set a specific deadline for holding such competitions. On the contrary, he explained that the city authorities first needed to deal with a backlog of land-related issues, some of which had remained unresolved since 2015<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Thus, even then, the mayor was talking about the need for a competitive mechanism to allocate kiosk sites, as well as the problem of owners profiting by renting out retail structures to other businesses.<\/p>\n

In February 2026, officials had already announced plans for auctions<\/h2>\n

The issue of new rules came up again in 2026<\/strong>\u2014even before the mayor\u2019s latest instruction.<\/p>\n

On February 25, 2026<\/strong>, Andrii Yermolaiev<\/strong>, director of the city council\u2019s Department of Internal Financial Control, Oversight and Anti-Corruption, publicly criticized the practice of approving temporary structures. He claimed that some businesses had their contracts extended immediately for 10 years<\/strong>, while others were denied extensions\u2014even when the structures were located next to each other.<\/p>\n

In response, Yevhen Poliakov<\/strong>, Mykolaiv\u2019s chief architect, explained that the current procedure for granting easements was outdated and needed to be revised. According to him, work on new rules had been planned back in 2025<\/strong>, and their development was included in the work plan for 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the development of the new mechanism, Yevhen Poliakov<\/strong> said at the time that the experience of other cities had already been studied.<\/p>\n

“In 2025, on our own initiative, we decided to make the procedure more transparent and bring it in line with modern standards. That is why drafting such a regulatory act was included in the 2026 work plan. We have already analyzed the practices of several cities.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As Korabelov.info reported on February 26, 2026<\/a>, the chief architect proposed that the Department of Architecture identify potential kiosk locations, that the city council publicly approve the relevant list, and that businesses obtain the right to install structures through auctions.<\/p>\n

The proposal also called for granting this right for a fixed term, without automatically extending contracts. Following discussions, a regulatory act was to be drafted and then considered by the city council.<\/p>\n

Thus, as of February 2026<\/strong>, officials had already announced that work was underway on an auction-based system. However, on November 9<\/strong>, the mayor once again instructed them to urgently draft regulations. The new target is now the end of 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It is unclear from the officials\u2019 statements why the new rules have still not been presented as an adopted mechanism, or what stage their development has reached.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A businesswoman in Korabelnyi District was denied land for a bus stop with a shop<\/h2>\n

While the authorities discuss a new procedure for allocating sites, businesses continue to go through the current process for approving land easements.<\/p>\n

One such case concerns Korabelnyi District of Mykolaiv<\/strong>. Businesswoman Olha Levina<\/strong> plans to install a bus stop complex with an integrated retail pavilion at the intersection of Bohoyavlenskyi Avenue<\/strong> and Korabeliv Avenue<\/strong>, on the route toward the city center.<\/p>\n

To do so, she applied for preliminary approval to enter into a personal fixed-term easement agreement for a plot of land measuring 28 square meters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

At a meeting of the land committee on October 16, 2026<\/strong>, the deputies did not support the preliminary approval. Only one<\/strong> committee member voted in favor, while another six<\/strong> abstained.<\/p>\n

In the end, the committee decided to refer the matter to a city council session without making a recommendation of its own. Seven deputies<\/strong> supported this proposal.<\/p>\n

Thus, the final decision on whether the land can be allocated for a bus stop complex with a pavilion still has to be made by the city council.<\/p>\n

Two business owners were denied easements, and five kiosks are to be dismantled<\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, on November 11, 2026<\/strong>, the executive committee of the Mykolaiv City Council<\/strong> decided to dismantle five<\/strong> retail kiosks and pavilions in the city\u2019s Inhulskyi and Korabelnyi districts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, nearly seven years<\/strong> after Oleksandr Sienkevych<\/strong> first publicly proposed a competitive process for allocating kiosk sites in Mykolaiv<\/strong>, the introduction of a competitive procedure is once again being discussed. This time, it involves auctions for land easements.<\/p>\n

Whether regulations will be ready by the end of 2026<\/strong>, when they will be submitted to the city council for approval, and how the new rules will affect businesses remain open questions.<\/p>\n

We previously wrote:<\/h2>\n