Donets

History

The history of the settlement of Donets is inextricably linked with the discovery of the Shebelynka gas field in 1950. At that time it was one of the largest in Europe. Thanks to its discovery, Ukraine became one of the leading gas-producing states in Europe.

One of the oldest cultural monuments of the community is the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin.

Economy

On the territory of the community, natural gas is extracted and oil refining products are produced. The state enterprise Ukrgasvydobuvannya operates here, which is the community’s largest employer and force for local economy development. Even under martial law, this enterprise continues to extract gas at all its facilities, except for those located near the demarcation line.

The budget-generating enterprise of the Donets community is Shebelinkagasvydobuvannya Industrial Gas Authority, which provides more than 40% of blue fuel production in Ukraine.

The agricultural sector of the community consists of 19 agricultural enterprises and farms. The community’s agriculturists specialize in the cultivation of cereals: winter wheat, barley, corn, millet, legumes and oilseeds (sunflower). Beekeeping is also well-developed here.

Community and War

The Donets community borders the Balaklia territorial community, which has been under Russian occupation since the first days. That is why the settlements closest to Balaklia are regularly subjected to Russian shelling. The Pryshyb starosta headed district is the most affected, where residential buildings, power lines, the Pryshyb Lyceum and local businesses have been damaged as a result of aerial bombardment and shelling. There are wounded and dead there. To date, almost the entire population of the district has been forced to leave their homes and move to safer places.

Besides, military actions in the village of Shebelinka resulted in almost complete destruction of the agricultural enterprise Agroset LLC. And on June 18, an enemy missile hit caused a large-scale fire at the oil refinery which led to the destruction of, and damage to, the tanks and part of the vehicle fleet. The fire was extinguished on June 24. As a result of the fire, 16 people of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine were injured.

Despite the fact that there is not a single settlement left in the community where a Russian missile has not landed at least once, the Donets community continues to work and host internally displaced persons. Thus, the community became a kind of shelter for residents and community leaders of the Izyum district, a large part of which is under temporary occupation or in the war zone. In the community, the process of temporary accommodation of people has been launched, humanitarian headquarters for residents and displaced persons are operating. The community helps neighbouring communities affected by hostilities.

Settlement Headman

The settlement head of the Donets community, Anatoliy Nazdrachov, has been holding leadership positions in the village council since 2002, having been elected as the settlement head for the fourth time. Prior to political activity, he served in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. From 2017, he headed the local utility company, in 2020 he was re-elected as the settlement head.

Since the first days of the war, the head has been at his workplace and performed his official duties. He has organized residents into a voluntary formation to ensure the protection of public order in the territory of the community and to patrol the streets at night. He actively cooperates with the police and the military, and helps the Armed Forces in every possible way.

Repair and restoration works of critical infrastructure are carried out in the community. Neighbouring communities are also given a hand.

Development Strategy

In December 2021, the development strategy of the Donets settlement territorial community until 2027 was approved. It recorded the following priority goals:

1. ensuring high quality of life of the population;
2. ensuring a clean environment and resource efficiency in the community;
3. sustainable economic growth of the community.

For this purpose, the community plans to implement the main projects from the development plan after Ukraine’s victory in the war: the construction of the Centre for the provision of administrative services and the Centre for citizen security; reconstruction of the solid waste landfill with the construction of a line for sorting secondary raw materials.

The community also plans to increase the tourist attraction of the region. To do this, they want to build a nature park on the banks of the Siverskyi Donets River and create tourist routes: hiking, water, cycling routes.

The strategy also provides for the development of the agricultural sector.

Sources

• Official website of the Donets community 
• Donets settlement territorial community on Facebook 
• Development strategy of the Donetsk settlemen territorial community for the period until 2027;
• Materials provided by community and enterprise management;
• Wikipedia 
• Publication of “Shebelinkagasvydobuvannya IGA. 60 years of labour achievements”;
• Ukrgasvydobuvannya website