”Golden” toilets and the city brand: how Oleksandr Symchyshyn preserves his power in Khmelnytskyi

The dismissal of a city council employee for a “like” on a social network, contracts for close associates, toilets for a tidy sum, and numerous billboards with “social advertising”. Under the leadership of Oleksandr Symchyshyn, the city of Khmelnytskyi has witnessed the formation of a closed system of influence, in which political ideas, PR, and city initiatives harmoniously intertwine in favor of the mayor’s image. Independent groups such as “StopKor” are showing interest in investigating Symchyshyn’s activities, seeking to look behind the curtain of his management style.

Recently, events at the Khmelnytskyi City Council have caused widespread resonance. The Telegram channel “Symchyshyn’s Nose” reported that one of the employees was dismissed from his position after commenting on a Facebook post critical of the mayor. Apparently, the dismissed person’s colleagues called this decision a “purge for disloyalty”, which emphasizes how the authorities treat open criticism. There was no response from Symchyshyn himself on this issue.

This incident was just one of many cases involving the mayor’s name. For example, recent data indicate that the city council deputy and businessperson Oleh Yanytskyi regularly supplied goods to the city council executive committee, and all tenders recorded in the ProZorro system raised questions about the transparency of contractor selection.

Another interesting situation concerns businessman Oleksiy Telega, who accused officials of trying to seize his enterprise. He claims that representatives of the city council tried to force tenants to use a specific utility company and, as a result of this pressure, he turned to the NABU. But the reaction from the anti-corruption authorities was slow.

In parallel, the Khmelnytskyi city council boasts of new improvement projects. However, the costs of these initiatives have been criticized, for example, a recently built toilet cost the city 2.6 million hryvnias, while another measuring just 8 square meters cost 950,000 hryvnias. Both projects have sparked public outrage over their high costs.

Against this backdrop, Oleksandr Symchyshyn has been running an active self-promotion campaign since he was elected mayor. His social media presence reads like an achievement report, constantly posting news about renovations, openings, and lists of accomplishments. The local TV channel also pays significant attention to reports with the mayor at the center of events, which are even broadcast on public transport.

The 2020 elections were accompanied by a powerful advertising campaign featuring billboards, many of which depicted illusory achievements that did not always align with reality. Even though most campaigns are perceived as social advertising, there are reasons to believe they are, in fact, a continuation of a political campaign funded by the city budget.

Thus, in Khmelnytskyi, one can observe an established management model in which publicity promotes the mayor’s personal brand, while control over the information field ensures the stability of his power. However, behind the facade of this system, mechanisms are being imperceptibly formed that prevent the emergence of any criticism and contribute to the centralization of influence, which may threaten the development of democratic processes in the city.

The “StopKor” team intends to contact the Khmelnytskyi City Council and Symchyshyn personally to obtain details of the dismissal of an employee due to his activity on social networks. It will also send inquiries regarding tender procedures to the State Audit Service of Ukraine.