Chernivtsi Territorial Community

History

The first written mention of the settlement of the territory of the then village of Chernivtsi was found in a deed dated 05 May 1383. The great Lithuanian prince Vytautas offered the wasteland of Kniazha Luka to Vasyl Karachevskyi, where this settlement was founded.

There are several versions of its name in the documents: Cherniakhivtsi, Cherniivtsi, Cherniiv. It is known that in 1432 it was already a significant settlement.

In 1546, they became the property of Bratslav nobleman Bily Skinder. Also, over time, the territory belonged to the Koniecpolskis, the Lumomyrskis, the Komars, and the Bozhenets-Yelovitskyis.

The Church of St. Nicholas was built in 1640 by Crown Hetman Stanislaw Koniecpolski.

In the late 19th century, the village had 4,228 residents. Back then, there were two churches and a synagogue in it. The village also had a pharmacy, a distillery, a brewery, two mills, as well as more than fifty retail outlets and almost seventy artisans.

One of the interesting architectural landmarks is the Rotunda Church of Mary Magdalene: the chapel-mausoleum of the Mankovskys, a noble family.

Special attention is also paid to intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Twelve elements of ICH are recorded in the local register, four of which – Spilled Cabbage from Zucchini, Table for a Child, Filling, and Star and Horn – are recorded in the regional register.

Employees of cultural institutions preserve and pass on from generation to generation both material and spiritual values. A vivid example of this is the private museum of the Pivtorakys in the village of Berezivka, which houses valuable exhibits ranging from the Trypillia and Cherniakhiv cultures to our time. Museum rooms displaying folk life-related exhibits are also arranged at the local culture centres.

Economy and Welfare

Agriculture is the leading branch of the Community’s economy. Individual peasant farms prevail in the territory of the Community. A large part of the land is leased by agricultural enterprises that use modern machines and technology.

Agricultural enterprises use 27.6 thousand hectares of agricultural land, including 27.2 thousand hectares of arable land.

At present, forty-six agricultural entities of various forms of ownership are operating in the Community. Traditionally, grain and technical crops are grown in the territory of the Chernivtsi Territorial Community.

The local industrial enterprises include a cheese factory, which is a production division of BIMOL LLC. Its production facilities have been expanding for two years, in particular, a technological line for the production of butter and casein and a line for the production of hard cheeses have been installed.

Also, Ukrainian Clothing Company UJS Limited Liability Company operates in the Community currently specializing in tailoring clothes for military personnel.

Small and medium-sized enterprises play an important role in the local economy. Creating a good environment for the formation and functioning of business entities is one of the effective means of solving the priority social and economic problems of the Community.

Community and War

2022 was supposed to be a year of development for the Community, but, unfortunately, 24 February 2022 destroyed many plans and made the Community face new challenges and tasks of a social, humanitarian, and migration nature.

As the full-scale invasion began, the Settlement Council became a centre for helping people who had been forced to leave their homes and seek refuge both in Ukraine and abroad. Hundreds of people going abroad stopped off overnight in the Community during the first weeks of the war as the Community is located near the border with the Republic of Moldova.

A total of 2,161 people from different parts of Ukraine stopped off in the Community’s villages and currently 393 internally displaced persons live there.

Each of the residents has been helpful in whatever way they could. People provided food, funds, made canned meat. Each village formed its own volunteer centre united by one desire to help and bring victory closer.

Many tons of products have been delivered to the military. Hundreds of meters of camouflage nets have been woven. Both youth and old residents of the Community have been working hard.

Hundreds of men from the Chernivtsi Community defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Unfortunately, several warriors from the Community serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been killed.

People of the Community

The arrangement of a modern, multi-functional space in accordance with modern requirements, accessible to groups of people with limited mobility, allows organizing recreation and leisure activities for the residents and guests of the Community, support for internally displaced persons, psychological assistance and comprehensive support for families of servicemen and families of the fallen Heroes, families in need of social care and assistance, education for internally displaced persons and low-income families.

The Community is known for its significant cultural component. In total, there are eight clubs in the territory of the Chernivtsi Community, in which sixty-one artistic teams work, and nine of them hold the title of folk (exemplary) amateur ones encompassing 688 members.

Since the beginning of the invasion by the russian federation, the work of cultural workers has taken on other formats as the education of a sense of patriotism among young people has become important. It was to this aspect that all cultural institutions paid great attention during the year and held many multi-genre events dedicated to national and patriotic education.

Culture takes on a different form: cultural workers, with the participation of folk teams, shot the film “Necklace or in God’s Bosom”, which was shown in every village of the Community, where charitable funds were raised to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The most awaited holiday in the Community is Easter Dances in memory of Mykola Safroniak, who started the event more than twenty years ago. This folklore celebration is usually held on the third day after Easter. Both bands from the neighbouring communities and the neighbouring country of Moldova come to the Community on the occasion of this event. This celebration is accompanied by quiet bonfires, folk dances, performance of rare folk songs and games. Famous stars and bands are also invited to the event.

Cultural workers actively write various grants. Four grants have been successfully implemented: a heating system has been installed in the large hall, two events have been held with the support of grant donors, a public space has been opened with the help of the Czech humanitarian organization “People in Need”, equipment has been purchased under the Professional Growth mini-grant.

Development Strategy

The development of the Community requires an integrated approach and the use of cooperation mechanisms of government, businesses and the public.

Sustainable economy and infrastructure development” and “High quality of life” were chosen as development priorities of the Chernivtsi Community for the period until 2030.

The Chernivtsi Territorial Community in the future means:

• A space with a developed social and technical infrastructure, a capable economy and high-quality educational, social, medical and household services;
• A community where the agricultural sector is actively developing, the share of industry is growing, and a favourable investment climate has been created;
• All this is possible after Ukraine’s victory in the war against the armed aggression of the russian federation. Therefore, we all work for the sake of Victory over the enemy and for the good of the residents of our Community.

The Chernivtsi Community is ready to establish long-term partnerships with international partners.

List of Sources

• Community website: gromada.org.ua/gromada/chernivecka
• Facebook page of the Community: facebook.com