Odesa residents whose demands the city authorities have ignored for nine months directly submitted a collective letter to City Hall on May 11. The initiator of the appeal is Iryna Oleksandrivna Kostenko. On Monday, May 13, the collective letter was submitted to Odesa City Council, and on May 13–14 it was also sent electronically through the deputies’ portal to every member of Odesa City Council. Green Leaf publishes the appeal.
Text of the citizens’ collective appeal
Guided by Article 40 of the Constitution of Ukraine and Articles 1 and 15 of the Law of Ukraine “On Citizens’ Appeals,” we consider it necessary to address you to resolve an urgent issue — financing combat units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine from the city budget.
We are relatives of service members defending Ukraine from the enemy, relatives of fallen heroes, volunteers and concerned Odesa residents. We demand that the city authorities increase expenditures for the Defense Forces of Ukraine, because only thanks to our defenders can Odesa live, work, rest and even celebrate freely rather than under the Russian yoke.
At the City Council session on April 24, 2024, financing for the “Safe City Odesa” budget program was again increased by UAH 146 million, while the total allocated expenditures reached UAH 823 million and another UAH 15 million was allocated for budget loans to business entities. These budget figures show that support for the Defense Forces of Ukraine is not currently a priority for the city authorities. Moreover, not all of these funds are directed to combat units of the Defense Forces, primarily the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, our defenders are repelling the enemy amid an acute shortage of supplies, especially drones, pickup trucks, electronic-warfare equipment and other items for which their families constantly organize fundraisers. These fundraisers close very slowly, and sometimes never close because those who opened them are no longer alive. Volunteers and military families cannot cover even tens of thousands of hryvnias, while vehicles and other equipment cost from hundreds of thousands to millions. The increases in military pay by UAH 70,000 and UAH 10,000 respectively have also not been secured by law, while our defenders still fuel and repair vehicles at their own expense and are forced to buy everything from personal equipment to body armor and weapons-related equipment.
Yet for some reason the city authorities prioritize financing non-combat bodies such as the Odesa Regional Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center, which received an additional UAH 1.8 million, bringing its total financing this year to almost UAH 5.9 million, including spending on “payment for the production of insignia and other products.” Such expenditures do nothing to bring victory over Russian aggression closer. It is also difficult to call UAH 2.1 million for the Territorial Office of the Economic Security Bureau in Odesa Oblast or UAH 5.0 million for the Territorial Office of the State Bureau of Investigation priority spending, especially since these institutions are fully financed from the State Budget.
The city authorities have the financial capacity to cover many military needs: purchase tens of thousands of drones, hundreds rather than dozens of pickup trucks and buggies, and finance domestic defense production for which military units are waiting in line and which currently exists only thanks to volunteer funds and donations from concerned civilians.
Analysis of the city budget indicators reveals the following reserves that could be directed to financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These are, above all:
1. Unallocated balance of budget funds, which after the April 24, 2024 session amounts to UAH 945,148,563. This amount is calculated from the opening balance of UAH 1,537,806,632, reduced by the UAH 2,000,000 working balance of budget funds and UAH 590,658,070 included in the city budget to cover the current-year deficit. The fact that these UAH 945,148,563 have remained unused for four months indicates that they are not currently needed to cover priority expenditures and can be directed to the needs of the Armed Forces without negative consequences for the city. We demand that this issue be considered and that a draft decision be prepared for the nearest session to direct the specified UAH 945,148,563 exclusively to the needs of combat units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
2. Unallocated funds of the deputies’ fund, which after the April 24, 2024 session amount to UAH 103,810,197. Analysis of 2023 shows that most deputies conscientiously fulfill their duty and allocate their share of the deputies’ fund in the first months of the current budget period. However, some deputies do not exercise this right, and the funds remain in the budget without serving the community. We demand that this issue be considered and that a draft decision be prepared for the nearest session to amend Odesa City Council Decision No. 37-VIII of February 3, 2021 so that, if an Odesa City Council deputy does not submit proposals for the use of their share of the deputies’ fund during the first five months of the current year, those funds are automatically directed to the needs of combat units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. Such amendments would not only increase the accountability of Odesa City Council deputies to their voters but also help identify additional financial resources for urgent needs of combat units of the Defense Forces.
In fact, these two items alone would allow the city authorities to direct about UAH 1 billion to the urgent needs of combat units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine without harming the city’s essential operations. But this is not the limit of the city’s capacity.
Many expenditures are allocated to non-priority needs during the war against Russian aggression — such as landscaping, repairing asphalt where it could still serve for several years, and many other items, including additional bonuses for employees of executive bodies, municipal institutions and enterprises. At the same time, the salary of an ordinary specialist can exceed that of a service member.
Reducing non-priority expenditures could, according to preliminary estimates, free up approximately UAH 1.6–2.2 billion, or 15–20% of the city budget’s expenditure side excluding interbudgetary transfers and the reserve fund. If employees of executive bodies refuse to do this work or provide knowingly incorrect figures, the city’s civil society can assist with this task.
With political will and a state-minded approach, the city authorities could, without harming essential city operations but by abandoning non-priority spending, direct approximately UAH 2.6–3.2 billion in 2024 to the urgent needs of combat units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
Based on the above, WE REQUEST:
- Personally review this collective appeal.
- Immediately resolve the issues raised in the appeal.
- Provide a substantive response regarding each of the specified indicators
of the city budget concerning the allocation of funds to finance urgent
needs of combat units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.