Sukhopolova Territorial Community

Chernihiv
Population:

The territory of the Village Council is divided into 19 starosta-headed districts. The administrative center of the community is the village of Sukhopolova, which is located 2 km from the district center of Pryluky and 8 km from the Pryluky railway station.

The territorial community includes 54 Ukrainian villages of the Pryluky district. The community covers an area of 905.9 km2.
As of January 1, 2024, the population of the community was 12,937 people, including:
Women: 6,864
Men: 6,073
Internally displaced persons: 149

History

The administrative center of the community – the village of Sukhopolova – has a long history and is mentioned as a settlement in historical sources dating back to 1629.

Sukhopolova Village Council
Sukhopolova Village Council Source

The territory of the Sukhopolova community has favorable conditions for the dynamic development of various types of tourism. Significant historical, cultural and natural recreational potential is concentrated here, since all the villages that are part of the community were formed at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. These were agricultural lands and forests owned by lords. Each settlement has a unique historical and cultural heritage. As for green tourism, the recreational areas of the forests, flooded meadows, lakes, ponds and the Udai River have remained in their original beauty.

The real decoration of the community is the Hustynia Holy Trinity Monastery, founded in 1600 with the blessing of the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Elisey Pletenetsky.  Currently, the Hustynia wonderworking icon of the Mother of God resides in the monastery. There is a healing spring near the monastery fence.

Hustynia Holy Trinity Monastery
Hustynia Holy Trinity Monastery

There are also many different historical buildings in the community, including a number of manors and churches.

Photo of the manor of landowners Myloradovychs
Photo of the manor of landowners Myloradovychs Source
Church of Joasaph of Belgorod
Church of Joasaph of Belgorod Source
The house where Mykola Kostomarov lived
The house where Mykola Kostomarov lived Source

The Udai River flows through the territory of the community. There are also numerous ponds and lakes.

The Udai River
The Udai River Source

Economy and Welfare

The economy of the territorial community has mainly agrarian specialization. The industrial complex is represented by mining and processing industry enterprises. In total, more than 400 enterprises are registered and operating here.

Such economic activities as agriculture, extractive industry, wholesale and retail trade have the greatest influence on the formation of the budget.

The Sukhopolova territorial community has a favorable territorial and geographical location with significant logistical transit potential. Today, passenger and cargo transportation is of leading importance in the development of the community. It is this type of transportation that performs a social function that provides services to the population at relatively low costs.

A sufficient amount of mineral raw materials is concentrated in the bowels of the Sukhopolova Territorial Community. Oil, gas and sand are extracted here.

Community bowels
Community bowels Source

Various investment projects are implemented in the community, for example:

The Sibkor-Pryluky Enterprise is implementing a project for the construction of an elevator complex for 80,000 tons of grain.

The project for the construction of a grain dryer “Pryluky Khlibozavod” with the capacity of 500 tons per day is being implemented.

The Pryluky Research Station operates on the territory of the community, which has a powerful scientific, practical and research base. The main types of activity are decorative horticulture and floriculture: selection, primary seeding of flower-decorative and fruit-decorative plants, mint, essential oil and medicinal crops.

Decorative horticulture and floriculture
Decorative horticulture and floriculture

In 2023, more than UAH 10 million of grant aid was attracted.

The community closely cooperates with the USAID HOVERLA Project. In 2023, an Agreement was signed between the Sukhopolova Territorial Community and DAI Global LLC regarding the USAID Governance and Local Accountability (HOVERLA) Project. The cooperation is in effect until 2027. Within the framework of the project, the territorial community has already received comprehensive support.

In 2023, the employees of the Village Council submitted 36 applications for international technical grant assistance for the implementation of projects, of which 11 projects were selected.

Cooperation with the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization for the Development of Democratic Education (DECIDE) Project is also significant – a grant of UAH 3.8 million was received for the repair of the shelter in the Sukhopolova gymnasium and the creation of an educational hub there and a grant of UAH 50,000 was provided for the creation of the Waiting Hall on the basis of the Sukhopolova Lyceum.

On the territory of the Sukhopolova Territorial Community, the field of education works effectively, for which the largest part of funds is allocated from the community’s budget.

There are 8 institutions of general secondary education in the community.

There are also 3 family medicine outpatient clinics and 19 paramedics and midwifery centers in the community. In 2023, a communal non-commercial enterprise, Center for Primary Medical and Sanitary Care of the Sukhopolova Village Council was established.

The field of culture and art in the community is represented by communal institution, Center for Culture and Leisure, which has 17 structural subdivisions (including 7 cultural centers and 10 rural clubs) and the communal institution, Public Library, which has 20 structural subdivisions.

The community also has the Administrative Services Center.

There is a network of institutions and facilities of communal ownership that provide social services to persons who are in difficult life circumstances and need outside help.

Sukhopolova Lyceum
Sukhopolova Lyceum Source

Community and War

Since the first days of the war, the Sukhopolova community, in cooperation with entrepreneurs, volunteers, Village Council members, members of the executive committee, starostas, officials and residents of the community, has been supporting and providing the necessary assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

As a result of the russian military aggression, more than 40 residential and non-residential buildings were damaged on the territory of the Village Council. As of January 1, 2024, 14 assets have been restored and 2 are in the restoration stage.

The community actively works to help survivors of the war in various areas.

Alley of Heroes
Alley of Heroes Source

In total, the Village Council has handed over 13 vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

Transfer of an ambulance
Transfer of an ambulance Source

The community regularly cooperates with the Patriot Pryluky public organization regarding the collection and handing over of charitable aid and goodies to Ukrainian military personnel on the front lines, traditionally before significant state and Orthodox holidays.

Also, the community cooperates with volunteer Viacheslav Merezhko and his team in this direction.

People of the Community

Village Head Denys Rosovskyi
Village Head Denys Rosovskyi Source

Sukhopolova Village Head Denys Rosovskyi was elected to the post on January 27, 2020 and has been the permanent Village Head since the creation of the territorial community.

The main goal of the Village Head and the entire team is to expand ties to share experience and implement joint projects even in the difficult period of the war. The Village Council actively holds meetings with the aim of developing international cooperation. A memorandum of intent for cooperation with the cities of Manitoba (Canada) is currently being prepared for signing.

Development Strategy

The development strategy of the Sukhopolova Rural Territorial Community for the period until 2027 and the program of social and economic development of the Village Council for 2022-2024 have been adopted.

The main goal of the Program is to create conditions for the full functioning of the community, in particular through the growth of well-being and improvement of the quality of life of the population, the ensuring of positive structural changes in the economy, the increasing of its competitiveness as a basis for balanced growth of standards and indicators of economic development, and the effective use of the available natural resource potential.

The team of the Village Head
The team of the Village Head Source

List of Sources

  • Official website of the Sukhopolova Village Council – shp-gromada.gov.ua
  • Facebook page of the Village Council facebook.com
  • The collection of photographs was taken on the territory of the Sukhopolova Rural Territorial Community within the framework of the HOVERLA project
If you want to contact an Ukrainian community or have additional questions regarding the project please contact us: [email protected]