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Novovorontsovka Territorial Community
Kherson
Population:
The Novovorontsovka settlement territorial community is located on the territory of Beryslav district, Kherson region.
The total area of the territory: 465.4 km²
Population: as of January 01, 2022 – 12,640 people; as of now – 5,963 people.
Men: 2,539
Women: 3,424
Children: 1,166
People of retirement age: 1,754
Internally displaced persons: 1,008
The community includes 1 settlement and 9 villages and has its administrative center in the settlement of Novovorontsovka.
History
The Novovorontsovka community was established in October 2020.
The area, where the Novovorontsovka community is located, has been inhabited since the Stone Age, has a number of archaeological monuments and promising research sites, which testify to the fact that the territory has been settled since ancient times.
Among the finds of local historians are samples of culture from all periods of Ukrainian history, starting with the Eneolithic era (IV thousand BC). The best represented among the finds and written mentions of ancient authors are the Scythian -antique and Cossack periods.
As regards the settlement of Novovorontsovka, it is known for certain that in 1778 an agreement was concluded on the transfer of the already existing village of Mykolaivka (the old name of Novovorontsovka) from Mykola Arkharov (police chief of Moscow) to the German general von Stahl (who was in the service of Catherine II).
Count Vorontsov became the next owner of the village in 1821. In 1823, Mykolaivka was renamed Novo-Vorontsovka and in 1829, Novovorontsovka received the status of a “town”.
Until now, several buildings of that time have been preserved, among them the former manager’s house, which now houses the local history museum. The park laid by Count Vorontsov has also been preserved.
On the territory of the community there is a limestone quarry known as the Osokorivka tunnels. Limestone was mined there in the 19th century. It had open and closed (tunnel) mines, due to which underground corridors were formed, the probable length of which is 20 km. Prior to the full-scale invasion, the lower tunnels had been mined for limestone dust to manufacture feed additives and paving stones. The upper tunnels have been abandoned since the early 1990s. This place is a promising tourist site of the Novovorontsovka area.
A mill with an oil shop, built in 1912, has survived in the community – it was the settlement’s tallest building at that time, built of sawn limestone in combination with red brick. This gives an elegant and expressive look to the industrial architecture that dominates the center of the settlement.
45 tons of wheat and 10 tons of sunflower were processed there per day. 36 workers worked there and 24 workers were employed in the oil shop. From 1944, the building housed a food factory, which is not operational now.
The Novovorontsovka District Hospital is one of the most well-preserved complexes of Zemstvo hospitals of the early 20th century in the Kherson Region.
Economy and Welfare
The community’s economy is dominated by agriculture – grain, technical and vegetable crops are grown here.
Large enterprises, such as the state-owned enterprise “Experimental Farm “Pioner” (8,039 hectares), the Subsidiary Agricultural Enterprise “Agro Forum-2” (3,835 hectares) and the Limited Liability Agricultural Company “Ptakhivnyk” (1,172 hectares) occupy a significant part of the land.
A lyceum, 4 institutions of full general secondary education, a gymnasium, a pre-school education institution, a culture and leisure center, a children’s sports school and an art school operate on the territory of the community, currently in a remote format.
The community has a central hospital and a primary health care center (with a number of paramedic and midwifery stations and rural dispensaries in the villages) that provide health care services not only to the Novovorontsovka community, but also to the neighboring ones.
After active hostilities, all facilities are damaged to one degree or another, and some are destroyed. The community is actively looking for resources to restore them and improve the lives of residents.
Community and War
With the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine, the community immediately felt the consequences of the aggressor country’s actions. The entire territory of the community, except for the administrative center, the settlement of Novovorontsovka, was occupied and Novovorontsovka itself was affected by the occupiers’ shelling every day for 7 months until the liberation, likewise the whole community.
The community was confused with the launch of the full-scale invasion. From the first day, part of the Kherson region was occupied and the invader moved further, to the administrative borders of the region.
A checkpoint was set up on the outskirts of Novovorontsovka, which was later shot by the russian military. Then 6 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed, local territorial defense fighters were wounded and contused.
On the basis of the Social Services Center, a humanitarian headquarters was formed, where they began to bring all possible aid to those who needed it.
The activities of volunteer headquarters were deployed, in particular, the public organization “Volunteers of the Novovorontsovka area”, the crew of the rapid response unit of the Kherson branch of the Red Cross Society of Ukraine, the volunteer group “Serpanok” and individual volunteers worked and are still working on the territory of the community.
They provided humanitarian aid on the ground, evacuated residents from the occupation, organized assistance to the military, and conducted underground intelligence activities.
Oleh Didenko, Director of the communal non-profit enterprise “Novovorontsovka Central Hospital”, stayed in the community during active hostilities. He organized the provision of medical aid to all who needed it, despite the constant shelling of the settlement and the threat of occupation.
In mid-March 2022, local self-government bodies, the police, the prosecutor’s office, and the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support evacuated from the community. The Settlement Council started its activities on the territory of Kryvyi Rih. A humanitarian headquarters was created to help refugees from the Novovorontsovka community in Kryvyi Rih.
In early October 2022, thanks to the efforts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Novovorontsovka community was de-occupied.
People of the Community
Seletskyi Andrii is the head of the Novovorontsovka Settlement Military Administration.
He evacuated more than 1,200 residents of the occupied Right Bank of the Kherson region when he was a volunteer of the rapid response unit of the Kherson branch of the Red Cross Society of Ukraine.
During the operation of the military administration, a number of initiatives were launched in the community.
With the support and assistance of the UN Development Program, a working group on public safety and restoration of the Novovorontsovka community was created.
The community received funding for the project to increase the level of safety and security in Novovorontsovka, which involves the installation of a video surveillance system. The equipment has already been purchased and delivered, and its installation is underway.
The community received funding for a project to arrange a public space on the basis of the Novovorontsovka Center for Culture and Leisure.
Also, by the end of the year, the community plans to receive materials for the project to improve road safety in Novovorontsovka through the installation of road signs and speed limiters.
Thanks to the cooperation with the USAID DOBRE Program, the Comprehensive Recovery Program was developed. The Community Development Strategy is being prepared. The creation of the design project of the Novovorontsovka park area has been completed.
With the assistance of the USAID DOBRE Program, the community received a skid steer loader, backhoe loader, 4 tractors with rotary mowers and trailers for communal enterprises.
On the initiative of the community head and with the efforts of the communal enterprise “Komunservis””, 10 ancient wells were cleared in order to overcome the water supply crisis, which arose due to the detonation of the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant by the occupiers. Specialists were involved in the development of a design project for the arrangement of the wells, and the public organization “Association of Responsible Citizens”, the public organization “Building Ukraine Together”, the Limited Liability Company “JSC Cargill”, the ForPeace fund were involved in financing the arrangement of 10 wells in Novovorontsovka.
The International Organization for Migration was engaged to carry out cosmetic repairs and furnish a group room and a book storage in the Center for Culture and Leisure with furniture, appliances, and equipment.
The community started an initiative to spread bicycle transport in the community as an ecological mode of transport. For this purpose, more than 250 bicycles were given to social and medical workers, teachers, employees of communal enterprises, cultural institutions and local self-government bodies. The community is now looking for opportunities to continue the initiative.
Development Strategy
The Novovorontsovka community is working on the preparation of a development strategy and created a working group for this purpose. The following priority areas of community development have been determined:
- Ensuring the availability of high-quality public services for the restoration and development of human and social capital.
- Restoration and development of utilities and risk-resistant infrastructure that guarantee the safety of residents, the natural environment and economic activity.
- Supporting the recovery and stimulating the development of the local economy, strengthening the community’s development potential and creating jobs.
The community is already working on the restoration of human capital and infrastructure, establishing ties with municipalities abroad, adopting best practices and experience.
Thus, in late May 2024, the community representatives paid a friendly visit to the village of Lauenbrück, the collective municipality of Fintel, Germany. The hosting party organized an internship there for specialists of the Novovorontsovka Settlement Military Administration, the Settlement Council, and the Center for Culture and Leisure.
They concluded a memorandum of cooperation between the village of Osokorivka of the Novovorontsovka community and the village of Lauenbrück, the collective municipality of Fintel, Germany, as well as a memorandum on cooperation between the communities – the Novovorontsovka settlement territorial community and the collective municipality of Fintel, Germany. They also planned a trip for schoolchildren to the village of Lauenbrück in the spring of 2025.
The community established friendly and partnership relations with the city of Assen, the Netherlands and their religious community. Friendly visits of representatives of the Novovorontsovka Settlement Military Administration and the Settlement Council were organized. Residents of Assen personally repeatedly brought aid to the Novovorontsovka community – furniture, equipment for the lyceum, bicycles, a tractor, trailers.
Thanks to cooperation with the public organization “Building Ukraine Together”, an administrative building in the village of Novovoskresenske was renovated and equipped.
Thanks to cooperation with charitable organizations, it was possible to restore most of paramedical and midwifery stations and rural dispensaries.
