Effective, transparent, and accountable. The city strives to become a model for implementing integrity best practices in cooperation with the European Union Anti-Corruption Initiative. One of these practices is the Integrity Assessment of the largest municipal enterprises.
Last year, at the mayor's initiative, we started analysing the first of them, Mykolaivvodokanal. Over the past six months, experts from Deloitte Ukraine assessed 87 indicators in 9 key areas of activity.
In particular, the following areas were analysed: General Management, Services, Communications, People, Corporate Governance, Ethical Aspects, Financial and Economic Block of Activities, Asset Management, and Public Procurement.
On 5 March, they presented the results of their work.
Opening the event, Ambassador of Denmark to Ukraine Ole Egberg Mikkelsen noted that this is an important project not only for Mykolaiv. Its implementation shows that the city authorities are really committed to increasing their openness and transparency. This is taken into account and highly appreciated by international donors with whom the city actively cooperates. In addition, such initiatives are important for Danish society as well - our friends can see that the assistance provided is used effectively and for the intended purpose.
"Some people say that Europe is tired of Ukraine. But this is definitely not true for Denmark. We have been helping, we are helping and we will continue to help. Mykolaiv can count on us,"
Ole Egberg Mikkelsen emphasised.
Allan Pag Christensen, Head of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative, said:
"The EUACI has been working with Mykolaiv since 2022. From the very beginning, we had a common goal to create best practices for recovery in Mykolaiv. The integrity assessment of Mykolaivvodokanal is not a coincidence. Everyone knows the problem of the lack of clean water in the city. That is why we understand the company will require major investments in the coming months and years. Many of them are likely to be financed by international donors. That is why a company like Mykolaivvodokanal needs to build trust and demonstrate integrity and transparency in its operations."
In his turn, the Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stressed that the trust of the public and our partners is crucial. Therefore, the city is working to implement the world's best anti-corruption practices and change specific processes.
"We want to identify problem areas to improve the efficiency of our utility companies. We will consider all the recommendations and, together with our partners, develop a roadmap to minimise risks. Other utilities, such as Mykolaivelectrotrans and Mykolaivoblteploenergo, will follow the same path of transformation,"
said Oleksandr Sienkevych.
According to him, the task has been set to correct certain shortcomings no later than in 3 months.
"This is unstoppable. Those who are against the changes should not be part of our team,"
stressed Oleksandr Senkevych
According to the experts, Mykolaivvodokanal has significant potential for further development, performance improvement and implementation of best integrity practices.
The report is available in two languages - English and Ukrainian here.
