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Henichesk Territorial Community
Kherson
Population:
The total area of the territory of the community is 2021.9 thousand km2.
The administrative, economic and cultural center of the Henichesk urban territorial community is the town of Henichesk which is located in the southeastern part of the Azov lowland, on the coast of the Utlyutskyi estuary of the Sea of Azov and the Tonka strait, which connects the estuary with Syvash, at a distance of 216 km from the regional center – the city of Kherson.
There are 67 population centers on the territory of the community, including 1 town (Henichesk), 8 settlements, and 58 villages.
As of January 1, 2021, the population of the community was 58.3 thousand people
History
The administrative center is the town of Henichesk, the first mentions of which date back to 1784. Its name comes from the word “dzenichi”, which means “thin” in Turkic.
The first settlers called it Ust-Azovsk. The names Henichesk and Ust-Azovsk existed in parallel for some time. The inhabitants of Henichesk engaged in farming, sheep breeding and fishing. The office of the salt industry, which owned the salt warehouses, was also located here.
In 1835, a postal route was laid from Henichesk along Arabatska Strilka to Feodosia. Located on the route, Henichesk soon became one of the centers through which bread, salt, and wool were exported to the Azov region. At the same time, the first buildings of the future port appeared.
At the end of the 19th century, the development of the commercial activity of the Henichesk seaport led to the rapid development of the settlement. Merchant houses, banks, offices, warehouses grew before one’s eyes and grain trading companies appeared. In 1903, Henichesk acquired the status of a town, and in 1906, a town administration was built. Now, in this attractive building with columns on the square on Myr Avenue, the Henichesk District Prosecutor’s Office is located.
The only religious building that has survived in Henichesk to this day is the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin. It rises on a rather rare hill in the Kherson steppes, shining in white and blue colors.
The monastery was founded here by elder Sozontius, a former officer and participant in the Crimean War, who later became a spiritual elder and had the gift of foresight. After asking the town deputies for land for the monastery, he settled as a hermit in a dug-out cell and began collecting funds for construction. Later, he was supported by local Orthodox residents. The first stone in the foundation of the future church was laid on the day of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, September 21, 1904. The construction was finished in 1907, and a year later the elder Sozontius died and was buried in the church crypt.
Economy and Welfare
Before a full-scale invasion, along with tourism, the main economic direction of the community was an agro-industrial complex that ensured the production of competitive agricultural products. Favorable natural and climatic conditions and 148.4 thousand hectares of agricultural land allowed the development of various branches of agricultural production, in particular grain crops, sunflower, horticulture and animal husbandry, including sheep breeding. They annually produced:
- up to 200 thousand tons of grain,
- 20 thousand tons of sunflower,
- 20 thousand tons of soybeans,
- 60 thousand tons of vegetables,
- 10 thousand tons of melons,
- 4 thousand tons of meat,
- 19 thousand tons of milk,
- 13 million eggs,
- 16 tons of wool.
The “Novooleksiivka” and “Henichesk” railway stations, with the 14 km distance between them, received suburban trains and long-distance high-speed trains from Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kovel, and Kharkiv.
NATURAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL
- natural sea salt of Henicheske salt lake which is suitable for the production of natural biologically active preparations for use in the food, pharmaceutical, perfumery and cosmetic industries;
- significant reserves of chloride-sulfate-sodium mineral waters, unique geothermal waters with a 36 percent iodine content. Arabat mineral-thermal, slightly alkaline, iodine-bromine, chloride-sodium water contains many trace elements and biologically active substances;
- healing mud of Syvash (district of Henichesk and around the village of Salkove), the thickness of the mud layer reaches 10-15 meters. The reserves of therapeutic mud are inexhaustible and constantly renewed;
- Henichesk clay and loam deposit which can be used as brick and tile raw material
- South Utlyuk deposit of sand and shells.
Before the full-scale invasion, two photovoltaic ground-based solar power plants operated on the territory of the community, namely: “WELIGEN – 6.0” with a capacity of 6.5 MW (located in the village of Rykove) and “WELITON – 2.5” with a capacity of 2.5 MW.
Before the occupation, the tourism industry in the community showed significant growth and development. The region actively developed infrastructure and increased the level of service, which contributed to a growth in the number of tourists.
In 2014, the “Oscar” dolphinarium appeared on Arabatska Strilka in the village of Henicheska Hirka. The facility with dolphins is located at the entrance to the boarding house “Budivevelnyk”. And as soon as June 2017, the “Oasis” water park was opened in the village of Henicheska Hirka. After working for two seasons, the water park underwent rebranding and opened in 2019 under the name “Aqualand”, becoming part of the network of water parks in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Since 2019, the Kherson region’s first tourist information center effectively functioned in the village of Shchaslyvtseve, as about 1 million tourists visited Arabatska Strilka every year.
In addition, on the territory of the beach area of the village of Shchaslyvtseve, accessible bathing areas for people with disabilities in wheelchairs were created. There is a considerable number of children’s health camps, recreation centers and boarding houses on the territory of the community.
Before the full-scale invasion, various festivals were successfully organized in the community, including the Wine and Cheese Festival in Shchaslyvtseve and 18th Koktebel Jazz Festival: Arabatka.
The educational sector, which ensured a high level of education and upbringing of children and youth, functioned effectively in the Henichesk urban territorial community. On the territory of the community, there were 26 institutions of general secondary education (including the Henichesk sanatorium-boarding school of the Kherson Regional Council), 25 institutions of preschool education, 3 institutions of out-of-school education, 1 Higher Vocational School and 1 Vocational Technical School, 1 branch of the Vocational College of the Kherson State University.
Community and War
In the first hours of the full-scale invasion, russian troops entered the territory of the Henichesk urban territorial community and occupied it. The invaders blocked the entry and exit. Products, medicines disappeared from store shelves, pharmacies and shops were closed.
Despite the danger, local residents of the community actively attended rallies against the occupiers.
From the first days of the occupation, the Henichesk Town Council, which was effective at that time, switched to remote work mode. The employees left the premises of the Town Council and did not work there. The activities of the employees were focused on providing humanitarian aid to local residents, ensuring their household and social needs. The distribution of food, food kits, essential medicines and baby diapers was organized, as well as transportation of patients who needed hemodialysis was ensured to the Henichesk Central District Hospital.
On March 12, 2022, the entire Henichesk town administration announced its resignation. Most of the employees resigned after being forced to work for the occupier.
The community is still under temporary occupation and under the effective control of the russians. However, the enemy did not manage to capture people’s thinking to the end. Some left their native places and some still remain in the occupation and resist.
People of the Community
On June 3, 2022, due to the lack of functioning of local self-government, the first military administration of the temporarily occupied Kherson region was created. It became the Henichesk Urban Military Administration. By order of the President of Ukraine, Yevheniy Rodionov was appointed as the head of the Henichesk Urban Military Administration.
Currently, the Henichesk Urban Military Administration has established contact with the residents of the community, maintains a community website, has created a Facebook page and a Telegram channel. The channels provide current news and important information for the residents of the Henichesk community and internally displaced persons.
The successful functioning of the administration allowed providing assistance to the population, including the organization of crisis and general psychological online consultations on overcoming stress and panic attacks; provision of material assistance to servicemen and members of their families; provision of medical and rehabilitation means necessary for care; payment of financial assistance to persons who find themselves in difficult life circumstances and need expensive treatment.
In addition, thanks to cooperation with the Latvian non-governmental organization “Foundation Agendurn” and the Kherson Regional Military Administration, two cars were handed over to Ukrainian soldiers of military units for combat missions. The management and employees of the Urban Military Administration, the executive bodies of the Town Council have repeatedly organized fundraising for the purchase of FPV drones for the military in the Kherson region.
This year, 12 children of the community got better and rested in the “Druzhba” health and wellness complex in the village of Novoselytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk region, at the expense of the local budget.
Children from the community were given the opportunity to study in a Ukrainian school – the work of Novooleksiivka Lyceum No. 1 in distance and family forms of education was organized. The educational institution has been operating since September 2022. The exclusivity of the institution in the Kherson region and throughout the country consists in the fact that it teaches the Crimean Tatar language and literature in all grades.
On the initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and with the assistance of the Department of Education and Science of the Kherson Regional State Administration and the Department of Education of the Henichesk Town Council, students of Novooleksiivka Lyceum No. 1 of the Henichesk Town Council received 43 laptops
Development Strategy
The main task after de-occupation is the restoration of the functioning of all authorities, social protection, medicine, electricity and water supply, the return and restoration of economic activity, provision of food and basic necessities.
Already today, the Action Plan after de-occupation has been prepared, work is ongoing to restore the functioning of the territory after de-occupation. Information and analytics are being collected on the management of household waste, destruction waste, water supply, passenger transportation, the renewal of the educational network and digitalization of areas such as work with veterans, social protection and, in general, the provision of administrative services. Work on the Community Recovery Plan has also begun.
In order to ensure a quick and effective recovery of the life in the community, the military administration conducts preparations for the de-occupation of the territory, establishes contacts with foundations and organizations, concludes memorandums on cooperation with other communities and military administrations.
List of Sources
- Official website of the Henichesk Town Council
- Official Facebook page of the Henichesk Urban Military Administration
- Official Telegram channel of the Henichesk Urban Military Administration
- castles.com.ua
- namori.com.ua
- arabatka.ua
- avenston.com
- most.ks.ua
- kuula.co/