Slobozhanska Territorial Community

Dnipropetrovsk

Population:

The Slobozhanske settlement territorial community is located on the territory of the Dnipro district, Dnipropetrovsk region. It is called the “heart of the Dnipro district” due to its location. One of the interesting facts is that the settlement of Slobozhanske has firmly grown into the confusion of the Dnipro suburbs, often one side of the street belongs to Slobozhanske, the other – to Dnipro. The administrative center of the community is located in the central part of the Dnipropetrovsk region between M04 (E50) and T0410 highways, which makes it an attractive transport and logistics hub for investment.

The total area of the community territory: 282.2 sq. km;
Population of the community: 23,854 (as of January 1, 2022)
Men: 6,472;
Women 8,189;
Children: 4,708;
Internally displaced persons (as of January 1, 2023): 3,033.

The community includes 1 settlement and 5 villages and has its administrative center in the settlement of Slobozhanske.

History

According to historical data, the first settlements on the territory of the modern settlement of Slobozhanske appeared as early as the second millennium AD. In the distant past, it was the location of many nomadic peoples and tribes. Traces of the Scythians, Sarmatians, and the mysterious Ants – people of the Slavic tribe – were found there. And with the formation of Kyivan Rus in the 9th-12th centuries, the routes to the south lay through the wide steppes, along which the Chumaks traveled to the Crimea for salt.

Whole rolls of wagons were heading from Poltava through Slobozhanske along the Chumak Way. They paved the track where Vasyl Sukhomlynskyi Street now runs, then along Kyslorodna Street and Baikalska Street to the crossing over the Samara River and beyond.

The Chumak Way in the steppes of Katerynoslavshchyna

A special page of history is the time of Zaporizhzhia Cossacks’ struggle for freedom. At the beginning of the 17th century, on the territory of the modern village of Slobozhanske, there were winter quarters (hamlets) of Cossacks from the Zaporizhzhia town of Stara Samara. The number of winter residents began to increase after the construction of the Bohorodytska (Ust-Samara) fortress in 1688 which defended against Tatar attacks.

In 1895, the construction of the Holy Spirit Church was completed on the territory of the community and the first parish school was opened. It was the first educational institution on the territory of present-day Balivka.

Also, you can see Scythian mounds on the territory of the community which are recognized as historical cultural monuments. One of them is located in an industrial area and the other is in a residential area. The radius of the latter is 23 meters and the height is 5 meters.

Monument of archeology “Mound” (located on the territory of Samara Island)

A fragment of the fortification of Katerynoslav Kilchenskyi, 1770-1780 (a section of a moat with the remains of a rampart on Samara Island)

Economy and Welfare

The economic potential of the Slobozhanske community is ensured by industrial, trade and agricultural enterprises. The most popular field of activity is wholesale and retail trade (almost 31% of the total number of registered business entities). The administrative center of the community is located in the central part of the Dnipropetrovsk region and, due to its location, is an important transport and logistics hub.

Many types of industry are represented in the community. The production of meat and sausage products, confectionery products, ceramic tiles, chemical and electrical products, plastic and polycarbonate products, construction chemical products, etc. is active here. The following Ukraine’s leading meat producers are located on the territory of the community: the FAVORYT PLUS Meat Factory and the YUVILEINYI Meat Processing Plant.

Also, there are large trade networks on the territory of the community: Epicenter, AUCHAN, KARAVAN, OLDI, ATB, METRO, warehousing, logistics and cargo enterprises, including the New Post automated terminal and Trans-Logistic warehouses.

The priority area of agriculture is the development of crop production which is mainly focused on the cultivation of grain, technical and vegetable crops, and horticulture. Agricultural lands span the area of 188.4 square kilometers or 72% of the total community area.

Small businesses focus on trade and intermediary activities which provide residents with essential products – in total, more than 350 retail outlets operate in the field of trade and service.

In general, more than 1,700 legal entities (business, agricultural, commercial entities and service providers) and more than 1,600 individual entrepreneurs (trade, commercial activity) operate on the territory of the community.

There are 6 secondary education institutions, 3 preschools, the Slobozhanske School of Arts, a youth institution, a sports school for children and youth, a Center for Culture and Leisure, 3 cultural centers and 5 libraries in the Slobozhanske settlement territorial community.

For the Day of the Agricultural Worker, pupils of the Slobozhanske Art School prepared their paintings for an exhibition and sale. During the event, most of the presented paintings were purchased which allowed raising UAH 10 thousand to be handed over for the needs of the Armed Forces. The children handed over the remaining paintings to the soldiers of the Armed Forces in the Mechnikov Hospital.

Pupils of the Slobozhanske Art School in the Mechnikov Hospital

The community has an extensive network of health care facilities, a total of 6 outpatient clinics, 2 paramedic stations, 2 private hospitals and the Slobozhanske Central Hospital, which serves not only the residents of the community, but also 4 rural territorial communities and 2 urban territorial communities.

In the settlement of Slobozhanske, there is an Administrative Services Center which was created as one of the first and has been operating for the 8th year.

The community also has an Arboretum with a total area of 1 hectare. A natural jewel, it performs recreational and educational functions. The composition center is a spacious den seating 40 people during cultural and artistic events, outdoor lessons, and student gatherings. From the central playground, the main radial ray paths diverge leading to the themed gardens of the four elements (water, wind, earth and fire), where children can acquire new skills and learn the basic rules of using the elements.

Arboretum – the garden of the element of water

Community and War

On February 24, 2022, the employees of the executive committee of the Slobozhanske Settlement Council switched to a 24-hour working mode under martial law conditions for uninterrupted work and coordination of all services and assistance in accommodating forcibly displaced persons. In the first days of the war, the leadership of the community made a decision to increase the personnel of the department of social protection of the population by transferring employees of the departments of the executive committee to help with the registration and placement of forcibly displaced persons. Subsequently, a unit for work with internally displaced persons was added to the social protection department.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, UAH 218 million has been transferred from the local budget of the Slobozhanske community to the needs of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the Dnipro regional territorial staffing center and several military units.

Since February 2022, the communal institution “Smart Youth Center” of the Slobozhanske Settlement Council and its branches have become volunteer hubs, where volunteers gather, weave camouflage nets, and organize the delivery of humanitarian aid.

From July to December 2022, the team of the Smart Youth Center, together with the Church of Saint Spyridon of Tremithus, provided humanitarian aid to forcibly displaced persons and people with disabilities every week.

The work of the humanitarian center and community volunteers

The youth of the community took part in charitable events: “The Deeds of Mercy” (volunteering, helping the needy), “Blood Donation” (donating blood), “Solodka Bavovna” (sale of cotton candy to raise funds for the military). In the youth spaces, they continue to make trench candles, ghillie suits, camouflage nets for the front line even today. Along with this, the volunteers were engaged in the production of helmets, cartridge pouches, and unloading vets. In total, more than 1,700 camouflage nets were woven in 2023.

As part of the “Make Pizza – Not War” campaign, volunteers, with the support of the charity organization “Siobhans Trust Ukraine”, made and distributed fresh pizza to forcibly displaced persons and vulnerable population groups.

Another good example of volunteering was the campaign for free haircuts for the military which was organized by a professional barber together with the Smart Youth Center.

In the village of Partyzanske, youth organized a New Life Old Clothing project to distribute clothes to displaced persons and low-income families. They organized a fair and collected funds which were used to purchase thermal clothing for the military. The project was implemented within the framework of the program of social and cultural integration of youth, “Good evening, we are from Ukraine”.

In March 2023, they organized a large-scale charity fair that united the residents of Slobozhanske – “Year of Invincibility”. In total, they managed to collect more than UAH 50,000.

Holding a charity fair in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Father Serhii Kramarenko, rector of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara in Slobozhanske, and the head of the public organization “Mercy never fades”, have been providing humanitarian aid from the international humanitarian organization “Samaritan’s Purse” since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

Based on the results of cooperation with international partners with whom the community previously signed Inter-Municipality Memorandums of Understanding, free technical assistance was received in the form of 9 cars, including two fire trucks. The trucks were handed over to the military unit for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Along with this, employees of the executive committee of the Slobozhanske Settlement Council purchased two cars at the request of the military with their own funds and handed them over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Transfer of a car to a military unit for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Receiving 2 fire trucks for the Local Fire Brigade of the village of Oleksandrivka

On October 1, 2023, on the Maidan in front of the Center for Cultural Services in the village of Slobozhanske, an Alley of Honoring the Memory of the Heroes was opened to the Day of Defenders of Ukraine. The monument depicts every resident of the Slobozhanske community who gave their lives for Ukraine to be a strong, independent and successful country. During the solemn ceremony, each of the relatives of 51 fallen soldiers was presented with a commemorative award “For Merit to the Community”.

Opening of the Alley of Honoring the Memory of the Heroes

The community held the first district stage of the Titans UA Dnipropetrovsk Region Spartakiad among the participants of the combat operations and the final stage of the Titans UA Dnipropetrovsk Region Spartakiad among the participants of the combat operations. The Titans UA Veteran Project is aimed at supporting Ukrainian defenders after serious injuries and their adaptation to life outside the front line.

During personal communication with the participants of the Spartakiad, it became clear that it is necessary to create a sports club and places for communication between veterans, persons with disabilities and persons with disabilities due to the war. The initiative team submitted an application for the competition of Social Initiatives to Support Adaptive Sports Clubs with the project “Creation of the Patriot Sports Club” for veterans. The project will help about 10,000 people in the Dnipropetrovsk region adapt to a peaceful life as soon as possible. Veterans returning from the war will find points of contact in the newly created club and make new useful and friendly acquaintances. They will also discover new opportunities and will be able to start a new happy life in a free invincible Ukraine.

Starting from 2022, the Slobozhanske community is a UNDP partner based on the selection among the territorial communities of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

With the beginning of a complete blackout, UNDP helped the community, and in March 2023, it handed over four portable charging stations as part of the Emergency Grant Aid for Humanitarian Assistance in Ukraine and Neighboring Countries Project to provide power supply to units of executive bodies of the Settlement Council and communal institutions of the community working with vulnerable segments of the population in case of an emergency, in particular in the event of rotating power cuts.

People of the Community

Ivan Kaminskyi has been the head of the community for 35 years in a row.

Under his leadership, the community was the Dnipropetrovsk region’s first to enter the process of unification in 2015, and since then the word “first” has often been heard alongside the name of the Slobozhanske settlement territorial community. During the tenure of Ivan Kaminskyi, the community became known far beyond the borders of the Dnipropetrovsk region and Ukraine thanks to a considerable number of successful investment projects and innovative approaches to solving social and economic issues.

Under his leadership, the Coordination Center for the Support of the Civilian Population, the Council on Internally Displaced Persons, the Youth Council, the Board of Trustees, the Council on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men, Preventing Domestic Violence and Gender-Based Violence and Combating Trafficking in People, the Coordinating Council of Local Economic Development, the Coordinating Council on Participation Budget (public budget), and the Technical Council were established in the community.

In September 2016, the Kindergarten “Dyvosvit” was opened. A symbol of decentralization – this is what the 5th President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko named the new kindergarten “Dyvosvit”. Apparently, for the first time in the history of Ukraine, the president took part in the opening of a kindergarten, because there was no project like “Dyvosvit” in Ukraine before. The construction project was implemented with funds from the local community budget and funds from the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration.

Opening of the preschool education institution “Dyvosvit” with the participation of the 5th President of Ukraine.

In April 2019, 106 families in the Slobozhanske settlement territorial community received apartments in a new building. This included the families of teachers, doctors, participants of the Anti-Terrorist Operation in the east of Ukraine, as well as large families and single mothers. Such a “social home” was built for the first time during the years of independent Ukraine.

Delivery of the keys to the apartment in the “Social House” building

In November 2018, a sports and recreation complex was put into operation in the settlement of Slobozhanske. The total area of the sports complex is 3 thousand square meters. It has a sports hall, halls for fitness and strength sports, billiards, a conference hall, coaching rooms, changing rooms, showers, a cafeteria, etc.

The sports hall is adapted for holding competitions of various levels and many types of sports: football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, etc. The fan section has about 300 seats.

At the same time, the construction of a 25-meter swimming pool continued next to the sports complex at the expense of the funds of the regional budget and the budget of the territorial community.

As soon as December 2021, the project “Sports and recreation complex in the settlement of Slobozhanske (new construction)” was implemented and put into operation within the framework of the Presidential program “Major construction”.

Opening of the Slobozhanske Sports Complex

Opening of the swimming pool in the Slobozhanske Sports Complex

Opening of the Futsal Competition “Slobozhanske Suzirya” with the participation of the 5th President of Ukraine.

In 2023, a branch of the communal institution “Local Fire Brigade” was opened in the village of Oleksandrivka. The opening of this branch provides an opportunity to improve the life and safety of the local community. This event became an important element in the system of protection against emergency situations and providing assistance to residents in case of need. The project was implemented with the funds of the local budget, and two fire trucks were handed over by the Lithuanian partners, the municipality of Šakiai for free use.

Opening of the “Local Fire Brigade of the Slobozhanske Settlement Council”

Recently, a new building of the Slobozhanske outpatient clinic of general practice of family medicine was opened. The reconstruction of the public building to accommodate the outpatient clinic began in 2021, as part of the implementation of the project “Promoting the development of social infrastructure (Ukrainian Fund for Social Investments VIII)”. This initiative is financed by the Government of Germany. In addition, the outpatient clinic has modern equipment, namely: an automatic hematology analyzer, a semi-automatic biochemical analyzer, a 3-channel electrocardiograph, a diagnostic ultrasound system, a device for phototherapy of newborns, a transcutaneous jaundice detector, an ophthalmoscope, and physiotherapy devices for ultrasound therapy.

Opening of the new building of the outpatient clinic

The Head of the community signed 12 cooperation and partnership documents, 7 memoranda with sister Ukrainian communities of Shyroke, Polohy, Novoselytsia, Manevychi, Khotyn , Korosten, and Avanhard.

5 memorandums were signed with international sister communities:

The municipality of Adaži (Republic of Latvia),
The municipality of Dusheti (Georgia),
The municipality of Šakiai (Republic of Lithuania),
The municipality of Kupiškis (Republic of Lithuania);

The Anenii Noi District Council (Republic of Moldova).

Development Strategy

The Community Development Strategy for 2023-2027 has been approved in the community.

The community development strategy provides for the creation of comfortable conditions on the territory of the community, economic development and the development of local social capital.

As of now, projects for the reconstruction of two buildings for housing forcibly displaced people, the construction of the Administrative Services Center and an outpatient clinic and overhaul of premises of the Slobozhanske Central Hospital are in the implementation phase.

Construction of the Administrative Services Center in the settlement of Slobozhanske (implementation phase)

Overhaul of the Slobozhanske Central Hospital in the settlement of Slobozhanske (implementation phase)

Arrangement of a recreation area for rest and leisure on the shore of the lake of the residential area “Golden Keys” of the settlement of Slobozhanske

Modernization of the housing stock of the community

Reconstruction of the sewage system in the village of Oleksandrivka

Reconstruction of the former dormitory for housing forcibly displaced persons (implementation phase)

List of Sources

If you want to contact an Ukrainian community or have additional questions regarding the project please contact us: [email protected]