Skhidnytsia Territorial Community

History

The Skhidnytsia territorial community was formed in 2020.

The 1970s became special in the history of this rich neighbourhood. Researcher Omelyan Stotskyi discovered Naftusya and Borjomi mineral waters in Skhidnytsia. In 1957, the scientist undertook to prove that Skhidnytsia has balneological springs and the mineral water on its territory has healing properties and beneficial effect on the metabolism, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, normalizes the functions of the liver and gall bladder, and removes waste products. It has no analogues anywhere in the world. The personal belongings of the researcher are presented in the Stotskyi memorial museum.

The oil era in the history of Skhidnytsia begins in the second half of the 19th century. In 1863, the first oil well named “Magdalena” was drilled in Skhidnytsia. In a short time, the entire territory of the settlement was covered with oil rigs. This is how a new page in the history of Skhidnytsia related to oil production began. In 1898, more than 168,000 tons of oil were extracted from 373 wells. Skhidnytsia ranked first in terms of oil production in Halychyna in the 1890s and ranked third in the 1930s; 2,150,000 tons of oil were produced in Skhidnytsia in 1886–1935.

There is the Saint Panteleimon the Healer Landscape Park on the territory of the community. Here you can not only walk or ride a bicycle, but also learn more about the history of the resort. In the park, models of oil rolling mills, which were used when the oil industry of Western Ukraine was just starting to emerge, were recreated.

There are also architectural monuments on the territory of the Skhidnytsia Territorial Community, one of which is the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul (1901), built according to the design by a famous Galician architect. The building is considered one of the most beautiful brick temples in the Carpathians. 

The St. Nicholas Church is the architectural monument of national importance. The stone building, erected in 1695, was restored a few times, but it has retained the spirit of its time to this day. The church has a carved wooden iconostasis.

There are the remains of the “Zalizna Guta” blast furnace in the village of Dovhe, Skhidnytsia community. At the beginning of the 19th century, this charcoal furnace was used to melt iron from ore which was cleaned with a hammer.

Located in the Ukrainian Carpathians, in the village of Dovhe, Skhidnytsia community, Laznyi is the Lviv region’s highest waterfall and a hydrological natural landmark of local importance.

“The “Carpathian Sea” in Skhidnytsia community is a large Soviet project that was never implemented. It was supposed to serve as an artificial mountain reservoir at the base of the Stryi River. The designers assured that in this way it would be possible to collect several million cubic meters of water, which would be enough to supply “dehydrated” Lviv. Despite the large investments of the Soviet Union, the construction was still not completed. Today, the people call this place the “Carpathian Sea”. Tourists do not often visit here, but there are always people willing to look at the remains of the unfinished hydroelectric power station.

Economy and Welfare

The Skhidnytsia community has significant tourist and recreational resources. That is why the development of tourism is a priority area of socio-economic and cultural growth here.

An excellent example is the work on the implementation of the Ukrainian-Polish project – “Protection of the waters of Solina Lake and the healing waters of the Skhidnytsia resort – a joint challenge and chance to preserve and use the potential of natural heritage”, developed by Gmina Solina of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of the Republic of Poland together with the Skhidnytsia Settlement Council as part of the Cross-Border “Poland – Belarus – Ukraine” Cooperation Programme.

The community has a high level of self-employment; its residents are interested in expanding their activities, increasing efficiency, creating family businesses and cooperatives. They can act as reliable contractors for more powerful enterprises. Currently, there are about 80 hotels, villas, and private estates in the community, which form the basis of the local economy.

Together with the construction of hotel and recreation facilities in the village, the infrastructure is also being developed – mineral water sources are being regulated, footpaths are being paved, and a network of entertainment facilities designed to make recreation in Skhidnytsia meaningful and interesting is being developed.

Mineral waters are the greatest treasure of the Skhidnytsia community. In total, there are 38 springs and 17 wells on its territory.

Heavenly Hundred Mountain is the peak of the Ukrainian Carpathians, the height of which is 890 m above sea level. It is located in the Skole Beskydy mountain massif, in the village of Dovhe, Skhidnytsia community. The mountain is filled with important meanings that are valued in modern Ukraine. One of the chapels is dedicated to the heroes of the Heavenly Hundred and the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which are still fighting against the Moscow occupier.

The Skhidnytsia community provides comfortable conditions for recreation all year round. The mushroom season lasts from mid-summer to November. Carpathian forests are unique as about 300 species of mushrooms grow there. Also, there is a good opportunity to ride horses here. Both riding a horse and driving a horse-drawn carriage are a special kind of extreme activities offered by local residents. A horse ride along the crystal clear Skhidnychanka will leave an unforgettable impression.

A flight in a hot air balloon will give the visitors an unforgettable experience. The annual festival has been gathering aeronauts since 2011. The Skole Beskydy Mountains below are a unique sight. Depending on the wind speed, the ball will fly 20-40 km and land in another place.

Every year, a festival is held on the lands of Skhidnytsia, which successfully combines folk art, modern variety shows and extreme entertainment. Since its foundation, the Skhidnytsia Summer Folk Song Festival has become a kind of hallmark of the resort, one of the elements of the organization of life in the settlement, which makes it possible to popularize Skhidnytsia not only as a unique balneological resort, but also as a powerful cultural and artistic centre of the neighbourhood, where every visitor, while restoring physical strength, can also get acquainted with the unique culture of Boykivshchyna, renew energy reserves from the inexhaustible sources of culture of the inhabitants of the Carpathian foothills.

Community and War

On February 24, the Skhidnytsia community began to work in emergency mode. The community feels the war mainly because of the alert signals, and therefore continues to work and fill the local budget.

The Skhidnytsia community has become a place of safety for thousands of people fleeing the terrible aggressive war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. On February 24, an instant response headquarters was created. The social protection department of the Skhidnytsia settlement council became a kind of call centre, where internally displaced persons could receive all the necessary information about evacuation and interaction with humanitarian headquarters or volunteers. Humanitarian headquarters were created on the basis of people’s houses of the Skhidnytsia community.

The support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is a very important part of the work. This includes the transfer of cars for military needs. Transferring cars to the frontline – this is the goal set by the Skhidnytsia Settlement Head, employees and heads of the structural divisions of the settlement council. Thanks to the charitable contributions made by each of residents and guests of the Skhidnytsia community at all events organized by the centre of culture and leisure and due to the solidarity and donations of entrepreneurs, it was possible to purchase and hand over cars for our soldiers. Residents of the community organized the baking of pies and cookies and making of dumplings, which were sent to the frontline.

Local history tours were conducted in the Skhidnytsia community for internally displaced persons living here in order to distract them from disturbing news as much as possible.

We cooperated with charitable foundations, in particular “Voices of Children”, which, together with the Skhidnytsia Settlement Council, organized leisure activities for children who arrived from the war zone. Students of educational institutions wove camouflage nets.

People of the Community

Ivan Pilyak is Skhidnytsia Settlement Head since 2010, and Head of the Skhidnytsia Territorial Community since 2020.

“I am proud of the people of my community – they are the force that gives a boost to and builds our region. We are working and will continue to work for our democratic, free future in a civilized, European society. The development strategy of our community is aimed at ecological green tourism, with developed, energy-efficient and environmentally safe infrastructure. And I hope for a quick victory and peace in our state, which will enable all our communities to develop to their fullest potential.”

Thanks to the initiative of the Skhidnytsia Settlement Council and the Polish  sister municipality of Polańczyk, a joint application was submitted for the competition within the framework of the cross-border cooperation programme of the countries of the Carpathian region – Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia which resulted in the building of a modern amphitheatre recreation complex in Skhidnytsia.

In Skhidnytsia, the traditions of ceramic handicrafts of Boykivshchyna continue to be developed. The couple Oleh and Svitlana Zhuks from Skhidnytsia are those rare artists who use different types of pottery: ceramics, terracotta, tiles, majolica, faience, porcelain, and metal ceramics. Artists present their works in the “Decorum” shop. In their work, they try to realize the main artistic and technological goal: to show the new possibilities of artistic ceramics, to convey to people that it is not just clay, but a work of art with colossal energy, which is released as a result of the magical combination of soil and fire.

Development Strategy

STRATEGIC VISION AND DEVELOPMENT LINES OF THE SHIDNYTSIA TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY

The formation of strategic goals is a long-term task. As part of the implementation of strategic goals, a certain reassessment may be made, new ideas and approaches may appear, but the vision should not undergo significant changes. All these formulations are a single target block with the priority of strategic vision. Based on the results of the survey of residents and entrepreneurs and the socio-economic analysis, SWOT/TOWS analysis and conclusions, the members of the working group defined the following strategic goals:

• A thriving resort and eco-territory:

1.1. Development and promotion of resort and tourist products:

• Creation of new resort and tourist products; support for the development of green tourism in the community; development and identification of new pedestrian and bicycle routes, including for Nordic walking; organization of thematic festivals, arrangement of tourist routes allowing for seeing the sights of spiritual culture.

1.2. Adaptation of the public space of the Skhidnytsia territorial community to tourist needs:

• Arrangement of tourist attractions and places of mass events taking into account tourist needs, improvement of accessibility to tourist attractions, development and preservation of the history museum in the settlement of Skhidnitsia.

1.3. Attracting investments in ecotourism:

• Improvement of infrastructure; development and popularization of camping sites; institutional support for economic development and investment attraction.

• Development of infrastructure in the community:

2.1. A place for leisure, self-development, sports and creativity:

• Modernization of cultural institutions; reconstruction of existing stadiums, arrangement of sports and children’s playgrounds; arrangement of parking areas;

2.2. Improving the quality of administrative and social services in the community:

• Provision of transport communications for the community population centres; provision of centralized water supply and drainage for the community population centres; improvement of the solid waste management system; improvement of the quality of educational services in rural communities; improvement of the quality of medical services in the community; construction, reconstruction, overhaul and modernization of the outdoor lighting system; regulation of parking on the territory of the settlement of Skhidnitsa 

3. Energy independence, spatial planning and security.
4. 1. Development of alternative sources of energy:

• Implementation of measures on energy efficiency of communal institutions of the community.

3.2. Territorial development of the community:

• Development of spatial and planning documentation; taking an inventory of land plots and assets; development of the community investment passport;

3.3. Safety and Security:

• Installation of video surveillance cameras; road safety; safety of citizens.

Extraordinary 16th session of the Skhidnytsia Settlement Council of the 8th convocation: approval of the development strategy of the Skhidnytsia territorial community for the period 2022-2027 (source: Skhidnytsia community online edition)