Alexander Senkevich, the Mayor of Mykolaiv, spoke UN news about reconstruction efforts and the role of the United Nations amid the threat of continued shelling.
“We were bombarded for 230 days, 159 people died, and 750 were injured. Much of the city was destroyed because there was firing everywhere.
Despite the war, the city lived, and everyone moved. Even the journalists who came to us to discuss the results of the shooting said that we cleaned everything so quickly, that they did not have time to shoot pictures.
Other residents have forgotten what happened. For others, the war is over. But it is not so simple. In public transport, for example, people forget that half of our buses were brought to the front, and of those that remained, a quarter were destroyed during the shooting.
Drink water
Since April last year, we started using water from the Southern Buh River, but it cannot be purified to drinking level because of the salt content. The consequences of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station explosion exacerbated this problem.
Our drinking water is located on the territory of the Dnipro River, 73 kilometers from the town. The station was destroyed and currently lies under seven meters of water. We can no longer maintain our city water supply from there. This is a big problem for us today.
A support
We always feel the support of the UN, especially in the most difficult moments. We met with representatives of the UN; they are always collecting data on the needs of the population, and they are trying to help us. Through UN agencies, some of the city’s needs have been met. We receive water, food, and other forms of support for the residents.
Risk of shelling
Before the war, almost half a million people lived in Mykolaiv. Today, we have registered about 350,000 people in the city, including about 50,000 who fled here from other parts of Ukraine.
Life is slowly getting better. Small businesses are starting to operate again, but large businesses are still unable to return due to water and electricity problems. The main concern, however, continues to be the risk of shelling.
Restoration of the city
Damage to the city amounted to $860 million, according to the Kyiv School of Economics, and that does not take into account the cost of new construction.
The restoration of the city was a decades-long process. When the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe invited us to participate in its UN4Mykolaiv project, we were happy, jumped, and voted for it with all our hands.
Our task is not only to rebuild what was destroyed, but to rethink everything, to find a new meaning in the life of Mykolaiv, its economic potential, and the role of the city in the bag Ukraine.
Mykolaiv as the gateway to Ukraine
Together with the UN, we are working on every detail planning the future of the city. It was created not only as a project for Mykolaiv, but as a global plan – a model that can be used in other destroyed cities of Ukraine.
We want to see a clean, beautiful Mykolaiv with comfortable places for recreation, convenient city infrastructure, and modern schools. The people of Mykolaiv also see their city as an industrial and commercial center. For everything to be beautiful and well maintained, the city needs to create businesses and jobs.
We don’t want to live only on the money of tourists, although we want to create some kind of an amusement park in our south, like Legoland or Disneyland, where not only Ukrainians but also foreigners can be. to go
Ports were our main investment opportunity after the war. Before the war, we handled up to 40 percent of goods shipped in and out of Ukraine. We see Mykolaiv as the gateway to Ukraine. I said in negotiations with investors that Mykolaiv should not only be considered as a market for goods or services, but as a door to the market of the whole country.
‘City of heroes’
I really want our city not to be forgotten after the war. Locals describe it as the last southern outpost of free Europe; we defended it well. I am very grateful for the UN’s interest in Mykolaiv. Mykolaiv received the title of “hero city”, but we call it “city of heroes” because it applies to all its inhabitants.