Artem Vashchylenko, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Public Union Ukrainian Maritime Cluster, Chairman of the Expert and Public Council of the Executive Committee of Mykolaiv City Council, spoke about the development of the Pivdenij Bug and Ingul Rivers.

In the “Dialogue” programme on the “Mart” TV channel, Artem Vashchylenko shared his expert opinion and facts on the implementation of the Concept for the Development of Rivers and Small-Scale Shipping in Mykolaiv for 2019-2030 and the Programme for the Development of Rivers and Small-Scale Shipping for 2022-23.

According to Artem Vashchylenko, the impetus for the Concept and Programme was the understanding that the key competitive advantage of the city of Mykolaiv is its geographical location, in particular the longest coastline in the country (135 km). And this should be used, integrated into the city’s strategic documents, and the efforts of local authorities should be focused on it and worked with. That is why, in 2017-18, a broad discussion began in the Mykolaiv city community involving all stakeholders. The community formulated an understanding that was reflected in the document “Concept for the Development of Rivers and Small-Scale Shipping in Mykolaiv from 2019-2030”, which was approved by the Mykolaiv City Council as a strategic document in 2019. In January 2022, the Programme for the Development of Rivers and Small-Scale Shipping for 2022 and 2023 was adopted. The programme envisaged, among other things, an inventory of mooring facilities on land plots along the riverbanks to determine where there is a designated use and where there is not, and to identify opportunities for the development of this area.

“Today, we understand that inland waterways should be integrated into land transport routes, and these mooring facilities should be systematised and either restored or new ones built,” he said.

As for the need to open the waters of the Mykolaiv Shipyard, this issue was raised before the full-scale war. One of the proposals included in the Programme is the reconstruction of bridges: the pedestrian bridge, the Alyaudsky bridge, and the bridge on the territory of the plant for the passage of ships over 3.5 metres high.

“Therefore, the opening of this passage is actually a matter of regulatory regulation that can be settled while the company is still part of Ukroboronprom at this level. We must understand that the discussion about the future of the Mykolaiv Shipyard complex should be open to the community. The prospect should be to open navigation. The possibility of vessels passing through the territory of the enterprise not only to connect the Pivnichnij neighbourhood with the rest of the city, but also to go further along the Ingul River,” said Artem Vashchylenko.

We would like to add, that the following members of the Public Union Ukrainian Maritime Cluster also acted as members of the Working Group on the development of the city target programme for the development of rivers and small-scale navigation in Mykolaiv until 2023:

– Artem Vashchylenko, Director of Business Support Centre LLC,

– Dmytro Ivanov, Director of “Artel” LTD, Deputy of Mykolaiv City Council,

– Serhiy Miroshnyk, co-founder and chief designer of Pro-Line Mykolaiv Design Bureau LLC.

The document envisaged funding from the city budget in the amount of UAH 19199.7 thousand in 2022 and 2023.

Implementation of the main directions of the Programme would allow achieving the following results

– improvement of the environmental situation on the city’s water resources;

– creation of accessible water recreation facilities for city residents and visitors;

– reduce the number of water-related injuries and deaths;

– improve the material base of small-scale shipping, sailing, including children’s and youth sports schools;

– increase public awareness of water tourism in Mykolaiv, including yachting, through the creation of a single information portal;

– attracting additional investments;

– increase in the production of small craft in Mykolaiv;

– attracting additional tourist flows and creating a positive image of the city of Mykolaiv as an international centre for the development of yacht tourism;

– increase in revenues from taxes and fees to the local budget;

– creation of new jobs;

– development of water transport infrastructure in the city of Mykolaiv;

– integration of river passenger traffic into the structure of the city’s transport complex.