Another terrible tragedy in Odessa. This morning the enemy launched a missile attack on the city. There are 16 dead and more than 50 injured. Hurt…  

Among those whose lives were taken by the Russian missile is former first vice-mayor of Odessa Sergei Tetyukhin, who last year decided to leave his post and join the ranks of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. An extraordinary person, a true professional, honest and decent. This is a huge loss for our city and country. To understand: when he left, there was applause in the session hall – almost for the first time in the history of Odessa self-government.

Sergei did not like publicity and did not play politics – he was, as they say, a technocrat. That is why few people know about what he did for Odessa. Among other things, thanks to him we have made significant progress in the field of road safety. Illuminated zebra crossings, traffic islands, roundabouts, anti-parking bollards, narrowing car lanes, bicycle lanes – all this is also thanks to him, his perseverance, and management abilities.

Another merit of Sergei is that the city received a credit rating from Fitch Ratings. This made it possible to reduce interest rates on current loans by 1% and gain access to new loans. He also handled the loan, through which we received 48 new trolleybuses.  

During the coronavirus epidemic, Sergei organized the delivery of cryocylinders for oxygen. Thanks to his work, it was possible to organize a continuous pedestrian zone in the center of Odessa for one season. It was a real miracle.

Under him, the approach to street repairs changed. After a wave of discontent, he invited activists and experts to design Chernyakhovsky Street, and it  received a new European look and functionality. Raised inter-block passages, bicycle paths, enlarged green areas, anti-parking bollards, delineators. This approach was then replicated on Preobrazhenskaya, in the Privoz area. There, for the first time in Odessa , tram tracks   were separated from the automobile part, and a Viennese-type stop appeared for the first time.

He established cooperation between the mayor’s office and international organizations – the German GIZ, the Japanese JICA. Thanks to him, the city received a lot of help from other countries and cities. These are water filtration systems, generators that power 148 city boiler houses, trucks, aerial platforms, technical assistance vehicles, buses, a solar station at a clinic, and much more.

Already as a vice-mayor, he believed that the city could independently launch a paid parking system through QR codes, which is now successfully operating.

He was also just a good person and friend. And a patriot of Ukraine – that’s why he voluntarily put on a military uniform: he didn’t have any “additional reasons” for this.  

Eternal memory to you, Sergey! Eternal memory to all those who died in this war unleashed by Putin’s Russia.  

We will take revenge.  

Author – Petr Obukhov, co-founder of “Dumskaya” and deputy of the city council

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