Mykolayiv has lost approximately 90% of its business during Russia's full-scale invasion, mayor Oleksandr Senkevych has said, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine.
"There are almost no manufacturing enterprises in Mykolayiv. That is, all enterprises have closed, and many have relocated. Today, the city survives solely on the personal income tax of the military. But after the war is over, we may find ourselves in a situation where we will stop receiving this personal income tax, and there will be no new funds from our taxpayers," he said.
In his opinion, in order to avoid the decline of the territories most affected by the war, it is necessary to use investment incentive mechanisms today.
"Today we need to create special economic zones or something similar in those regions that have suffered the most destruction and are the most risky today because of their proximity to the border to cover the risks of those investors who want to come in with economic and tax instruments that allow them to make money. Only then will investors come back, and local ones too," he said.
In addition, he noted that today it is necessary to work on training the workforce for future production.
"The biggest problem for any investor is workforce. Today we need to work with local communities to train this workforce. We want it to be like this: a company is built in a year or two, and they already have workers lined up," said Senkevych.
He believes that people will also return to Mykolayiv if they see an opportunity to earn money and improve their housing and living standards.
Still, he added that he does not yet feel that the government supports this initiative.