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Dubove Territorial Community
Zakarpattia
Population:
The Dubove settlement territorial community is located in the Tyachiv district, Zakarpattia region.
The community includes 4 villages and a settlement. The administrative centre is located in the settlement of Dubove.
The total area of the territory is 198.5 km2
Population: 20,637 people
History
The Dubove community was founded in 2020. Geographically, the population centres are located in the western part of Ukraine, in the very heart of the Carpathians, where incredibly picturesque landscapes open up.
The first mention of the settlement can be found in historical sources on January 26, 1591. According to legend, the name of the settlement comes from the old oak trees (Ukrainian – duby) that grew in the centre of the settlement. It is more likely that the village itself was surrounded by an oak forest. For half a millennium, Dubove was a part of several state entities: Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Carpathian Ukraine, Ukrainian SSR, and Independent Ukraine.
The development of the settlement is associated with the functioning of the Zakarpattia Helicopter Production Association in Soviet times, which specialized in the production of aviation industry goods. Now the company is not operational.
In 1755, the settlement was the centre of forestry, which contributed to the growth of the population. In the pre-war period, in addition to native Ruthenians, various ethnic groups lived here, including Jews. This is evidenced by the synagogue in the centre of the settlement, which was turned into a cultural centre during Soviet times. And on the outskirts there is an old Jewish cemetery. The Jewish community takes care of the cemetery here.
There is an ethnographic museum Kalyna in one of the villages of the community which is distinguished by collections of Hutsul clothing, weapons, tools, and household items. Here you can see a plough, authentic kitchen utensils, clothes, a water wheel, a Hutsul hut and even a chair of the first president of Carpathian Ukraine – Augustyn Voloshyn, and countless other household items. There is a botanical garden on the territory of the manor, where bananas, lemons, and coffee trees grow.
On the outskirts of the village of Dubove, on the premises of a private restaurant located on the banks of the Teresva River, a concrete monument to the knight of the road was erected several meters high. Insurgent Hryhir Pyntya is a popular character of Zakarpattia folklore. Legends, songs, and children’s books were written about Maramorosh – the most famous knight of the road.
The 19th century’s Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God, an architectural monument built in 1861-1879, is located in the centre of the village of Krasna. The interior of the church is unique because master builders invited from France worked on it. The iconostasis was painted by the famous Zakarpattia artist Ihnatiy Roshkevych. The church has valuable bells made in 1925 and brought from France.
Economy and Welfare
Natural resources have shaped the main priority of the community’s economy. In 2022, more than half a thousand entities has been operating in non-agricultural sectors of the economy. Small enterprises predominate here and are mainly engaged in timber processing and woodworking activities, trade, transport services and construction.
Currently, 45 woodworking enterprises and enterprises specializing in the manufacture of furniture and carpentry, as well as primary processing of wood, operate in the community.
The state forestry enterprise, which is one of the largest employers, operates on the territory of the community.
The Dubove community has a good tourist potential. There are Burkut mineral springs here. And the most attractive for tourists is Mount Apetska, which is the hallmark of the community, through which tourist routes are laid. Green tourism, craft cheese production, sheep farming, beekeeping and trout farming are developing in the community.
The rebroadcast television station Krasna is one of the hard-to-reach objects. It is located in the village of Krasna on top of Mount Konets (local name – Hycha) – 1302 m above sea level, about 6 km from the central road. The tower was built in 1969. Incredible mountain views open up from the top of Konets.
There is Mount Apetska on the territory of the community which is a peak in the Ukrainian Carpathians. From above, the mountain somewhat resembles a giant letter X. In clear weather, Mount Hoverla, which is 38 km away, can be seen from here.
Community and War
Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Dubove community has sheltered more than 1.5 thousand internally displaced persons, providing them with housing and food.
Some of the newcomers settled in the private sector, and some were provided with free accommodation by way of creating and equipping shelters on the territory of the municipal hospital and a dormitory of one of the colleges. These shelters are currently undergoing renovations and living conditions are being improved for internally displaced persons.
A humanitarian headquarters for displaced persons has also been organized. The head of the village, Denys Kahanets, has established relations with charitable organizations that have provided humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons.
Currently, more than 60 men from the Dubove community defend the Motherland with weapons in their hands.
The Dubove settlement council supports the servicemen in every possible way. It has given them trucks, a school bus, laptops, computers and printers. It also provides fuel on a regular basis. Benefactors and caring residents also actively help the military: they donate jeeps, warm clothes, and food to the military on the front line.
Since the beginning of hostilities, local volunteers have organized the collection of humanitarian aid to cater for the needs of the military and displaced persons. Teams of educational institutions join the collection of humanitarian aid, organize fairs, raise funds to support the military and weave camouflage nets.
Cultural workers and members of the youth council are also involved in weaving nets.
People of the Community
Village Head Denys Kahanets is 41 years old. The head of the community was born and raised in Dubove. He took the lead of the community in 2020. Before that, he was the CEO of a company specializing in construction and repair work.
During his 2 years’ office as Village Head, he took care of the welfare of the residents and the development of the community. A number of successful projects were implemented with his assistance.
In 2021-2022, he implemented the project entitled Supply of X-ray equipment to the Dubove Hospital, Zakarpattia Region within the framework of the Kusanone human safety and security programme (Embassy of Japan);
During 2021-2022, a number of projects for the reconstruction and major repairs of educational institutions of the community were implemented. Thus, windows and doors were replaced in the Dubove Lyceum, additional premises were completed in Dubove Gymnasium No. 1, the roof was replaced at the Kalyna Lyceum, the same works were carried out on the building of Dubove Gymnasium No. 2.
In 2021, the community enterprise – The Inclusive Resource Centre – was opened. It takes care of children with special educational needs. Reconstruction of the building for the centre was carried out with funds from the local budget.
In 2021, a new building for the general practice outpatient clinic of family medicine was constructed in the village of Krasna.
In 2022, the children’s playground was reconstructed. Two workout grounds were installed in two population centres. One of them was implemented within the framework of the project Installation of a Sports Ground on the Territory of the Kalyna Lyceum as part of the competitive initiatives of local Carpathian communities Euroregion Carpathians-Ukraine.
In 2022, the settlement council worked to create comfortable conditions for the temporary residence of internally displaced persons. At the moment, work is underway to overhaul the premises of the first floor of the municipal hospital, where 35 displaced persons can be accommodated. Also, work continues in the college dormitory, which will make it possible to accommodate another 250 people.
Chendey Fest is still a very young. It is held only for the second time, but it has already become very famous at the writers’ circle. This is a several-day literary and artistic event held in Uzhhorod and Dubove in honour of Ivan Chendey, the famous local writer and laureate of the Shevchenko Prize. In Dubove, the participants of the event go through the Trails of Ivan Chendey route. They start from Dubove and head to Yasenova Mount where the Chendeys’ family hut is located.
Development Strategy
Although the Dubove community is still quite young, it has ambitious plans for development. It strives to improve life in the community to European standards, to create prerequisites for young people to stay in villages and develop them. Therefore, the community contributes to the development of medium and small businesses, craft production, in particular, cheese factories, supports sheep farming and beekeeping, which are the authentic occupations of the ancestors. All this can spark the interest of potential partners and facilitate the joint implementation of projects related to ecology, tourism, sports development, medicine, infrastructure development.
Other priority tasks of the community include the construction of sewage treatment plants and the construction of a plant for the processing of wild berries, which the region is rich in. Also, there is a possibility to open an industrial park here.
One of the future steps is the thermal sanitation of educational institutions, the construction of a modular boiler house that will heat 5 social and educational institutions of the community and the protection of settlements from water damage through the construction of water protection structures on the Teresva River within the community.
Priority is also given to the improvement of road infrastructure, development of tourism, social services and sports in the community. There is an intention to build multifunctional playgrounds on the territory of the community and to reconstruct the Karpaty stadium.
