Heating Genocide: Are Odesa Authorities Lying?
During the summer and autumn of this year, city residents became witnesses to the ‘filming of a blockbuster’ inspired by the Odesa authorities’ preparations for the heating season. Generators were sought, fuel was stockpiled for them… Odesa residents were constantly told about this through the media.
For example, in an interview with Suspilne.Media published on 27 July, the director of the municipal enterprise Odesa City Heating Supply said: “This week we received the final 43 generators. We have already completed the lion’s share of the preparation work: replacing pipelines and repairing boilers in our boiler houses. We are renewing pumping equipment that failed in one way or another during last year’s blackouts. Precisely because we expect another difficult winter, it may turn out to be even more difficult.
Thanks to foreign partners who provide us with continuous support, we are renewing equipment at our boiler houses and replacing electrical and pumping equipment.”
Odesa City Council member Petro Obukhov, in an interview published on 1 August, was more specific: “Yes, we are talking about 156 municipal boiler houses. If electricity disappears in winter because of shelling, heating systems can freeze within a day and fail. To prevent this, the boiler houses were equipped with backup generators.”
On 14 September, at a briefing at Media Center Ukraine — Odesa, Volodymyr Karpych, deputy director of the Life Support Systems Department of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, saidthat 85% of Odesa Oblast’s critical-infrastructure facilities were equipped with generators. Of these, 75% were water utilities and 95% were heat-energy facilities.
This was also stated in a Facebook post on Trukhanov’s page dated 19 October: “As for our municipal enterprise Odesa City Heating Supply, it is almost 100% ready for the start of the heating season. In addition, all municipal boiler houses are provided with alternative sources of electricity.”».
It is worth noting that, intentionally or not, this post received exactly 666 likes. It gives the impression that higher powers were trying to show that this was an outright lie. Whether that is so is for everyone to decide. But even before the official start of winter, bad weather reached Odesa on 26 November. The response from the heating utility was immediate — to turn off heating completely. This was announced on the official Facebook page of Odesa City Heating Supply. Odesa residents were most outraged by the final phrase: ‘Thank you for your understanding.’ It is unclear what exactly they were supposed to understand: that the municipal heating company was simply not prepared for difficult heating-season conditions, or that its management did not care about Odesa residents.
The authorities began trying to justify themselves on 26 November.
In response to outraged Odesa residents, a representative of the municipal heating company began saying that supposedly ‘small boiler houses are equipped with generators. Large ones cannot be equipped with generators for technological reasons.’
Trukhanov picked up the same version and changed his earlier statements, saying at around midnight on 26 November that supposedly ‘as of today, all small boiler houses are equipped with generators.’ As can be seen, there was no longer any talk of all municipal boiler houses.
Today, simple questions arise:
— How truthfully do the Odesa authorities headed by Trukhanov inform Odesa residents about the situation in the city, and can their statements be trusted at all?
— What will happen to heating in Odesa when Russian forces again begin large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure? Did the Odesa authorities prepare at all for blackouts this winter?
N̶̸̲̅e̶̸̲̅w̶̸̲̅ old mechanism for transferring funds from Odesa’s budget to NGOs
At an extraordinary city council session, the mayor of Odesa announced the development of a new legal mechanism intended to speed up assistance to troops on the front line. Apparently, the mayor’s office’s legal department is looking for a way to involve civic organisations in purchasing this assistance with budget funds. Zelenyi Lyst points out that, until now, the city has had no problem involving civic organisations in implementing the budget. Let us try to understand what additional mechanism is being discussed.
The list of civic organisations that received funds directly from the city budget can be consulted by downloading the file “Unified Register of Budget Spending Units and Recipients of Budget Funds” from the official website of the State Treasury Service of Ukraine, as of 01.11.2023.
Zelenyi Lyst has already done this for you
We will list only those recipients of budget funds served by the Odesa city treasury, grouping them by the chief spending units of the city budget. The following 37 recipients of budget funds fall under the Odesa City Council’s Department of Internal Policy:
| №№ | EDRPOU code | Name |
| 1 | 40292127 | Civic Organisation “Evolution of a Generation” |
| 2 | 44285037 | Civic Organisation “Institute for the Sociocultural Development of Young People with Disabilities and the Protection of Their Rights ‘Step into the Future’” |
| 3 | 41206416 | Civic Organisation “Odesa City Branch of the Veterans’ Association” |
| 4 | 42697983 | Charitable Organisation “Dobrodar+ Charitable Foundation” |
| 5 | 35358311 | Civic Organisation “Ehida” |
| 6 | 25933493 | Civic Organisation “German Youth in the Odesa Region” |
| 7 | 20997768 | Odesa City Veterans’ Organisation |
| 8 | 25815996 | Civic Organisation “Residents of Besieged Leningrad” |
| 9 | 23862632 | Odesa Regional Organisation /Branch/ of the All-Ukrainian Veterans’ Association |
| 10 | 26133419 | Civic Organisation “Odesa-Basket Sports Club for People with Disabilities” |
| 11 | 20979546 | Charitable Foundation for the Social Protection of Citizens in Old Age “Our Future” |
| 12 | 34598362 | Civic Organisation “Votum Centre” |
| 13 | 03583338 | Odesa City Society of People with Disabilities of the All-Ukrainian Organisation of People with Disabilities “Union of Organisations of People with Disabilities of Ukraine” |
| 14 | 38156004 | Civic Organisation “Atletyk Children’s and Youth Football Club” |
| 15 | 40688914 | Civic Organisation “Line of Defence” |
| 16 | 38643523 | Civic Organisation of People with Disabilities “Road of Kindness” |
| 17 | 34738857 | Civic Organisation “Hillel Jewish Youth Centre” |
| 18 | 26303152 | Civic Organisation “Youth Development Centre” |
| 19 | 01463653 | Civic Organisation “ODESA CITY UNION OF DISABLED VETERANS OF THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN (INTERNATIONALIST SOLDIERS)” |
| 20 | 39785723 | Charitable Organisation “Serhii Isaiovych Utochkin Foundation for the Development of Sport and Civic Initiatives in Odesa” |
| 21 | 35048968 | Civic Organisation “Odesa City Organisation of Participants in the ATO and Hostilities in Other Countries ‘Military Memorial’” |
| 22 | 37759471 | Civic Organisation “Special Children” |
| 23 | 38226144 | Civic Organisation “Medical Truth” |
| 24 | 40009344 | Public Union “Odesa City Organisation of the Ukrainian Union of Afghanistan Veterans (Internationalist Soldiers)” |
| 25 | 40707926 | Civic Organisation “Union for Assistance to Servicemen and Veterans of Odesa” |
| 26 | 41188261 | Public Union “Association of Civic Organisations of Participants, Veterans and Disabled Veterans of the Anti-Terrorist Operation of Odesa City and Odesa Oblast” |
| 27 | 38109310 | Charitable Organisation “Odesa City Charitable Organisation for Assistance to Children with Down Syndrome ‘Sunny Children’” |
| 28 | 40016393 | Civic Organisation “Odesa Regional Organisation of Participants in the Anti-Terrorist Operation ‘Brothers-in-Arms’” |
| 29 | 37351433 | Civic Organisation “Illia Muromets” |
| 30 | 13873675 | Civic Organisation “Union of Afghanistan Veterans of Odesa’s Suvorovskyi District” |
| 31 | 39585672 | Charitable Foundation “Life for You” |
| 32 | 37137059 | Charitable Foundation “Path to Freedom” |
| 33 | 39044946 | Civic Organisation “Airborne Troops Veterans ‘Union of Odesa Paratroopers’” |
| 34 | 42583518 | Civic Organisation “Future Youth Platform” |
| 35 | 40119946 | Civic Organisation “Odesa Union of ATO Veterans and Disabled Veterans” |
| 36 | 42847577 | Civic Organisation “Happiness for Everyone” |
| 37 | 43910097 | Civic Organisation “Odesa Union of Airborne Troops Veterans” |
Another 24 recipients of budget funds fall under the Odesa City Council’s Department of Labour and Social Policy:
| №№ | EDRPOU code | Name |
| 1 | 24533439 | Odesa Regional Charitable Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Children with Disabilities “Future” |
| 2 | 26568790 | Charitable Organisation “Social Protection of Citizens in Old Age ‘Warm Home’” |
| 3 | 26542247 | Civic Organisation “Peresypchanka” |
| 4 | 34321888 | CHARITABLE FOUNDATION “HESED SHAAREI ZION” |
| 5 | 35503135 | Civic Organisation “Academic Centre ‘Science and Education’” |
| 6 | 35768243 | Charitable Organisation “Pchelka Charitable Foundation” |
| 7 | 26301874 | CHARITABLE FOUNDATION “MEDICAL CENTRE ‘HOPE, KINDNESS AND WELL-BEING’” |
| 8 | 21008224 | Civic Organisation “Human Rights Society ‘Commonwealth’” |
| 9 | 39860669 | Charitable Organisation “Revival and Unity Foundation” |
| 10 | 37810815 | Civic Organisation “Legal Corporation” |
| 11 | 36851012 | Civic Organisation “Institute for Health Care and Social Protection of People with Disabilities” |
| 12 | 36154210 | Civic Organisation “Invacentre” |
| 13 | 33722956 | Charitable Organisation “Spiritual Revival of Odesa Charitable Foundation” |
| 14 | 41074189 | Civic Organisation “Large Families and Socially Vulnerable Citizens of Odesa ‘Our Home’” |
| 15 | 39151101 | Civic Organisation “All-Ukrainian Union for Active Longevity ‘IT-GRANDMOTHERS’” |
| 16 | 38696486 | Civic Organisation “New Life Christian Mission” |
| 17 | 43188750 | Civic Organisation “Special Youth Foundation” |
| 18 | 42885950 | Civic Organisation “Council of Large Families ‘Odesa’s Future’” |
| 19 | 40985898 | Civic Organisation “Association of Women of Ukraine ‘Diia’” |
| 20 | 42958578 | Civic Organisation “Paradise Hill” |
| 21 | 42803197 | Charitable Organisation “Odesa Family” |
| 22 | 44113984 | Civic Organisation “Lessons of Kindness” |
| 23 | 21009873 | Youth Civic Organisation “Student Communication Centre” |
| 24 | 39516352 | CIVIC ORGANISATION “ALL-UKRAINIAN PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ENTREPRENEURS” |
Another 8 recipients of budget funds fall under the Odesa City Council’s Office of Physical Culture and Sport:
| №№ | EDRPOU code | Name |
| 1 | 41904186 | Civic Organisation “Odesa Rugby Federation” |
| 2 | 41439508 | Separate Subdivision of the All-Ukrainian Civic Organisation “Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine” in Odesa Oblast |
| 3 | 26006543 | Branch of the Civic Organisation “National Olympic Committee of Ukraine” in Odesa Oblast |
| 4 | 35697424 | CIVIC ORGANISATION “CITY BASKETBALL FEDERATION” |
| 5 | 36919515 | Civic Organisation “Odesa City Basketball Federation” |
| 6 | 26388906 | Civic Organisation “Water Polo Federation of Odesa Oblast” |
| 7 | 42053510 | Public Union “Odesa Regional Volleyball Federation” |
| 8 | 40097509 | Civic Organisation “Odesa City Chess Federation” |
The Odesa City Council’s Department of Ecology and Development of Recreational Areas has one recipient of budget funds:
| EDRPOU code | Name |
| 25431882 | Civic Organisation “Odesa Institute of Social Technologies” |
The Odesa City Council’s Department of Culture and Tourism also has one recipient of budget funds:
| EDRPOU code | Name |
| 37080689 | Limited Liability Company “Ukrainian Film Festival” |
If you open the Procedure for Compiling the Unified Register of Budget Spending Units and Recipients of Budget Funds, you can see that not every recipient entered in the Unified Register will necessarily receive budget funds. But to receive budget funds, a civic organisation must be entered in the Unified Register.
In recent years, substantial funds from Odesa’s budget have been transferred to civic and charitable organisations.
The question arises: does the mayor’s office really still lack a procedure for transferring such funds? Perhaps they have forgotten how it is done? We can already see at least two interesting responses to the #everything for the Armed Forces of Ukraine campaign from our f̶̸̲̅e̶̸̲̅u̶̸̲̅d̶̸̲̅a̶̸̲̅l̶̸̲̅ ̶̸̲̅l̶̸̲̅o̶̸̲̅r̶̸̲̅d̶̸̲̅s̶̸̲̅ mayors. You can call everyone idiots, as Filatov did, or you can resolve it by looking for “legal mechanisms”.
We very much hope that, when such a mechanism is found, our highly esteemed Hennadii Leonidovych will share it with the mayors of all the other 56 cities where protests against non-priority spending are also taking place!
What Odesa City Council members will vote on, 15.11.23
According to Odesa’s official city website, an extraordinary session of Odesa City Council will take place tomorrow, 15 November 2023. Until yesterday, the council members themselves did not know which matters were to be put to a vote. As reported on 14 November on Facebook by Ms Kvasnytska, information about the draft decisions is simply being concealed: “Tomorrow at 11:00 there is an extraordinary session of Odesa City Council. The draft decision placed on the agenda has not yet been provided to council members for review. As I understand it, most will not even read it. The conciliation council meets today at 15:00; what questions can arise when we have not seen the draft? It is all a sham! The main thing is to show the community that funds are once again being allocated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and that Odesa residents’ protests are unfounded. However, the issues surrounding the two programmes through which funds go not only to the Armed Forces must be examined by law enforcement, because council members have no access to the primary materials and no council committee analyses them! Everything is presented orally, taking the word of people who cannot be trusted!” As far as Zelenyi Lyst knows, the draft decisions became available to council members only in the evening. We note that, according to the metadata, the files in question were last modified at 20:10.
Now, to the substance of the documents.
The agenda concisely provides for just 2 items:
1. Amendments to the municipal targeted programme “Safe City of Odesa” for 2020–2024, approved by Odesa City Council decision No. 5797-VII of 18 March 2020. 2. Amendments to Odesa City Council decision No. 1012-VIII of 30 November 2022, “On the Budget of the Odesa City Territorial Community for 2023”.
Separate amendments were also added to these draft decisions, which were prepared by the Executive Committee of Odesa City Council. The amendments were introduced by Odesa City Council’s Standing Committee on Planning, Budget and Finance.
Analysing the amendments
1. Increasing funding for the municipal targeted programme “Safe City of Odesa” by almost 10 million hryvnias. Amending the substantive part of the programme by increasing funding for units of the National Guard of Ukraine by 2.5 million hryvnias and for a military unit whose number is concealed by almost 7.5 million hryvnias. 2. Amending the city budget, proposing to reduce budget expenditure on the municipal targeted programme “Safe City of Odesa” by almost 44 million hryvnias (marking this with a note) and directing those funds to the Department of Education to finance preschool and general secondary education institutions. At the same time, this amendment contains no changes to the substantive part of the “Safe City of Odesa” programme. The note itself also sounds odd: “In the draft decision, budget appropriations were reduced and directed towards determining additional budget appropriations for the Department of Municipal additional budget appropriations for the Department of Municipal Security of Odesa City Council”. Which version of the draft amendments to Odesa’s city budget this refers to is unknown.
Two points add further spice to tomorrow’s session
The first is whether Odesa City Council’s Standing Committee on Planning, Budget and Finance has any authority at all to introduce amendments to the draft budget of the Odesa City Territorial Community. The second is that the names of military units have disappeared from the municipal targeted programme “Safe City of Odesa”. Whether even council members will be able to trace this money is unknown. The public is guaranteed to be deprived of that opportunity. Under Security Service of Ukraine order No. 383 of 23.12.2020 (paragraph 1.4.4.), information about the actual names of formations and military units is not classified as a state secret.
Thus, tomorrow’s session raises numerous questions
The main ones are: – Which officials of Odesa City Council’s executive bodies bear personal responsibility for preparing the draft amendments to the city budget and the municipal targeted programme “Safe City of Odesa”? – Which specific draft decisions will Odesa City Council members consider? – Has the Executive Committee of Odesa City Council adopted decisions approving the figures in the draft decision that council members will consider at tomorrow’s session? – Which specific military units are being allocated funds under the “Safe City of Odesa” programme? – What specific amendments will be made to the city budget?
There is no point even asking whether the council members themselves managed to make sense of all this overnight. We can only hope that the money will go towards something urgently necessary and very much needed ))).
What losing “military personal income tax” means for Odesa’s budget
On 8 November 2023, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada adopted bill No. 10037 on so-called “military personal income tax” at its second reading and as a whole. How will this affect Odesa’s budget?
To understand the role these funds played in forming the city budget, we first need to establish what the situation was before the war.
Thus, in 2021, the city budget received just under 283 million hryvnias under revenue classification code 11010200, “Personal income tax on monetary allowances, monetary remuneration and other payments received by servicemen and rank-and-file and commanding personnel, paid by tax agents”. Of Odesa’s budget revenue excluding interbudgetary transfers, this amounted to 4.1% of all revenue.
In 2022, mobilisation and increases in both the overall size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and payments to servicemen changed the situation radically. Revenue from “military personal income tax” increased almost fourfold to 1.07 billion hryvnias, accounting for 14.1% of budget revenue excluding interbudgetary transfers. But because non-essential spending was significantly restricted, the city was unable to spend all the money. And in the balances carried over from previous periods, as Zelenyi Lyst previously reported, more than 1.4 billion hryvnias remained from 2022, which is more than the “military personal income tax” received in 2022. This takes into account the additional allocation of more than 1.1 billion hryvnias to early repayment of loans.
For 2023, as of the end of September, “military personal income tax” revenue of 1.3 billion hryvnias was planned. This accounts for 12.1% of planned revenue for Odesa’s budget excluding interbudgetary transfers.
How critical would losing this amount be for Odesa?
Under the adopted bill, the reverse subsidy will not be withdrawn from Odesa’s budget (these are funds that local budgets transfer to the State Budget to equalise the tax capacity of territories). In 2023, it amounts to 231.3 million hryvnias. In effect, they want to take from Odesa’s budget into the State Budget only the funds that Odesa’s budget began receiving because of the increase in the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and in payments to servicemen after the full-scale invasion. The amount in question is around 1 billion hryvnias. Zelenyi Lyst has already analysed both the special and the general funds of Odesa’s budget, showing that non-essential spending in 2023 is considerably greater than that 1 billion hryvnias.
In our opinion, this law poses no threat to the city’s functioning financed by the city budget. It merely curbs appetites for whims such as relaying paving stones, asphalt, pipes and so on. In addition, spending under the guise of being “for the Armed Forces of Ukraine” on repairs to court and prosecutor’s office buildings, as well as for other law-enforcement and security bodies, must stop! First, such an initiative by mayors can be regarded as bribery; second, the courts and law-enforcement and security bodies have their own state funding.
Chronicle of Russia’s war crimes against Ukraine’s environment: Odesa Oblast, October 2023
Bombardment of port infrastructure, grain storage facilities, a ship repair yard and residential buildings in Odesa Oblast. People injured. All this is the chronicle of one of the twenty terrible months of Russia’s terrorist war against Ukraine.
We are collecting facts about the Russian Federation’s crimes against nature in Odesa and Odesa Oblast during the war: environmental pollution resulting from explosions and damage to infrastructure, contamination of air, water and soil with toxic substances, destruction of ecosystems in protected natural areas and conservation areas of international importance, and more. We will update the information daily, so please send any facts you know to: zeleniy.list1@gmal.com
Read More