Drabiv Territorial Community

The community has a convenient geographical and logistic location. It is 157 km to Kyiv, Ukrainian capital, 32 km to the Kyiv-Kharkiv state highway, 75 km to Cherkasy, regional centre, 35 km to Zolotonosha, district centre, and 28 km to the Kononivka railway station.

There is the Drabove-Bariatynske railway station on the community’s territory, which provides transport logistics with separate regional centres (Odessa, Cherkasy) and hub stations (Grebinka, Smila).

History

The Drabiv territorial community was formed on 22 November 2018 by merging the Drabiv settlement council and the Levchenkove village council, Drabiv district. In June 2020, 9 village councils joined the community.

The community history spans quite a lengthy period of time: from the 17th century to the present day.

Drabiv. The first information about the settlement of Drabiv dates back to 1689, when the tsar granted Ivan Myrovych, a rich Cossack, later a Pereyaslav colonel, a deed of gift for a farmstead with a pond, forest, pasture and hayfields “in the open steppe over the Zolotonoshka River”.

The Drabiv local history museum was founded in 1967. Today, it has more than 5,000 exhibits, which are located in 11 halls. There is a folk room in the museum, where the history and daily life of the Drabiv region is presented. In the halls, the works of the Drabiv folk masters and the surrounding area are exhibited. In a separate room, there is an exhibition devoted to World War II and the participation of the Drabiv inhabitants and its community in it. The entire hall is dedicated to the memorial mini-museum of the outstanding countryman-artist Ivan Padalka, who was repressed in 1937.

In the settlement of Drabiv, there is a state natural monument of local importance: an over 150 years old exotic corylus colura tree, also called Bear Nut. This is one of the two oldest trees of this species in Ukraine. 

Economy and Welfare

The agriculture is the main economic activity in the community. The agro-industrial complex of the Drabiv community is one of the largest and most important sectors of the economy, which generates the basic part of food production and budget revenues and has significant development prospects.

There are deposits of natural resources and raw materials – loam (raw material for the production of bricks), peat and explored sources of mineral water on the territory of the community.

The agro-industrial complex of the community is quite large – more than 900 agricultural enterprises of various formats, which cultivate 35,373.45 hectares of land, operate here. 

The companies engaged in the cultivation of grain and technical crops are the leading farming enterprises of the community.

One industrial enterprise is registered and operating on the territory of the community – Agroprombud Collective Enterprise focused on the fired-clay brick production.

The trading is well-developed on the community’s territory with over 500 active enterprises. 

The Drabiv community has ensured full operation of educational, cultural and sports institutions. The educational sphere is quite developed, and there is a communal institution “Centre for Professional Development of Pedagogical Workers”, which promotes the professional development of teachers working in the community’s educational institutions.

Community and War

On 24 February 2022, the Drabiv community, like all Ukrainians, began to work under the martial law. All work areas were aimed at protecting the country, supporting the community life and the safety of the community’s residents.

Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, almost three thousand internally displaced persons found shelter in the Drabiv settlement territorial community. The community provided them with food, necessities, medicines, organized work with children, created temporary jobs, and handled housing and everyday problems.

Based on the dormitory and kindergartens, four shelter-care facilities were equipped for both temporary and long-term accommodation of persons who fled the war. 

The war united everyone for a common goal – Victory! The community residents baked bread for Kyiv hospital, prepared hot lunches for soldiers at checkpoints, prepared pastries and various delicacies, made preserves and stews, knitted camouflage nets, warm socks and balaclavas, made trench candles, collected food and vegetables, held fairs to raise donations, bought military vehicles and other necessary equipment. 

The volunteer HUB of community teachers supported Ukrainian fighters and internally displaced persons. The Drabiv residents and neighbouring communities bought the individual equipment, uniforms, shoes, medicines, personal hygiene products, and food for the military for the received charitable contributions and their own funds. 

The Drabiv community organized humanitarian missions to various Ukrainian localities affected by the war.

People of the Community

Svitlana Orel is a head of the Drabiv settlement territorial community. 

She was born and grew up in Drabiv. 

She became the community head in October 2020. 

Previously, she held senior positions in the Drabiv district state administration. She was repeatedly elected as a deputy of the district council. 

From the first day in the office, she rallied like-minded people and outlined ambitious plans for the community development.

The efforts of the settlement head are aimed at developing the community and improving the residents’ well-being.

In the first year of the community’s existence, a number of successful projects were implemented in the community with the assistance of the settlement head:

• In August 2021, the department of palliative hospice care and rehabilitation and the upgraded infectious department of the Drabiv Multi-Field Hospital, a communal non-profit organization of the Drabiv settlement council, were opened.  

• The renovated family recreation park in the centre of the settlement of Drabiv was opened. For a quite long period, this park area was in unsightly conditions, and at the initiative of the settlement head Svitlana Orel and thanks to the financial, technical and material support from sponsors, the park became a new, modern, and attractive location for residents recreation.

• With the help of the settlement head Svitlana Orel, the Drabiv community got funding in 2021 for the adding of the sport and assembly halls to the existing school building and their corresponding equipping. This project coasted 22,778.6 thousand UAH. The funds from the State Fund for Regional Development, regional and local budgets were used for project implementation.

Unfortunately, the war adjusted the community plans. The construction financing is currently suspended. The building is 87% ready.

With the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the settlement head showed courage and endurance. From the first days, the work of the coordination headquarters was organized, food security of the community residents was ensured. The work of two mini-bakeries was restarted. They baked over 100 loaves of bread per day and gave them to low-income families, internally displaced persons and delivered to the military hospital in Kyiv. The plots of land, which the community residents refused to cultivate, were planted with potatoes and, in August, it was possible to harvest about 17 tons of the crop. The vegetables were delivered to a local hospital and sent to Kharkiv, Kherson and Mykolaiv. The community organized catering to the military at checkpoints, collection of food and vegetables, preparation of stews and ready-made porridges, distribution of humanitarian aid to low-income community residents. 

Taking into account the problems in the energy sector, in particular, difficulties with the supplies of electricity to the community, the issue of uninterrupted water supply for the community was resolved. The community installed a new powerful electric generator at the Drabiv water extraction. The backup power source was purchased with the funds of the local budget under the individual order. The mobile electric generator will ensure the operation of the pumping equipment for supplying drinking water to the tank and the network of centralized water supply and drainage.

Hryhorii Vovchynskyi, who was born and grew up in the village of Bilousivka, glorifies Drabiv in the international sports arena. An athlete, champion of the Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi and Beijing, medallist of the Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver, he won the gold medal of the 2022 Paralympics in the men’s sprint standing in 2022.

 Development Strategy

The strategic goals of the Drabiv community are as follows:

1. Development of the local economy: agricultural enterprises, industrial enterprises, utilities sector, small and medium-sized enterprises, tourist, historical and cultural potential.
2. Creation of comfortable living conditions for the community residents: infrastructure development of the community’s settlements, improvement of utilities standards, quality of social services, and development of public initiatives.
3. Environmental safety of the community: environmental improvement, formation of ecological awareness of community residents, development of alternative energy resources and energy-saving technologies, improvement of water and forest objects on the territory of the community.

The Drabiv community is a potentially attractive region for investment attraction. 

This is facilitated by sufficient agricultural potential, availability of labour and natural resources, unique natural and climatic conditions.

The priority sectors of the Drabiv community’s economy that require priority investment resources are as follows:

Agriculture:

It is characterized by high agro-climatic potential, the presence of high-quality agricultural land, favourable climatic conditions, and the absence of harmful production in the region. There are favourable conditions for the development of environmentally friendly farming and beekeeping.

Use of Minerals:

The community has reserves of minerals: raw materials for the production of bricks (loam), peat deposits, and mineral water sources.

Resort and Recreation Sphere:

Development of new recreational areas with the recreational potential, expansion of resort and recreation services and recreation infrastructure, including due to the mineral water healing sources.

Alternative Energy Sources:

The availability of free land plots for the construction of solar power plants.

List of Sources

• Website of the Drabiv Settlement Council
• Facebook page of the Settlement Head