The Mykolaiv City Council has decided to establish a supervisory board at the municipal enterprise "Mykolaivvodokanal." The competition for selecting its independent members will begin next week, announced the city mayor, Oleksandr Senkevych.
"The creation of supervisory boards at major municipal enterprises is a logical step for a city that aims to be transparent and efficient," he stated at the VII International Corporate Directors Forum, organized last week in Kyiv by the Professional Association of Corporate Governance (PACG).
As clarified by the head of the PACG board, Oleksandr Okunev, who will assist in the selection process, the supervisory board will consist of three independent directors, including one chairperson, while two members will be representatives from the city.
According to Okunev, despite existing skepticism, this proposal is quite attractive to the market, as the offered compensation is "not insignificant," and the prospects for professional corporate directors are promising: the opportunity to work in a large city and a growing market, as the decisions to create supervisory boards for municipal enterprises have already been made by Lviv and Mykolaiv, with other cities following suit, each having its own water utility.
Mayor Senkevych indicated that efforts will be made to define KPIs for the water utility, which may include specific electricity consumption, water quality, and levels of water loss in the networks.
He reminded that earlier this year, the consulting company Deloitte conducted an assessment of the integrity of "Mykolaivvodokanal" and the use of international aid received, the results of which were presented in March.
He also noted that the establishment of supervisory boards facilitates the attraction of international aid, recalling that "Mykolaivvodokanal" is already a recipient of assistance for projects with the EBRD, and it serves as a good solution when the city has a "diverse" city council.
As reported to the "Interfax-Ukraine" agency by Yuliya Mincheva, head of the Mykolaiv City Council's Integrity Support Office, Mykolaiv also plans to create supervisory boards for two other large municipal enterprises: "Mykolaivoblteploenergo" and "Mykolaivelectrotrans."
As reported, earlier this year, a supervisory board was established at the municipal enterprise "Lvivvodokanal," headed by the executive director of the Association of "Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine," Sviatoslav Pavliuk.