Hlyboka Settlement Community

History

The administrative center of the community is the settlement of Hlyboka, the first mentions of which date back to 1438.

The most famous attraction of the Hlyboka community is the museum house of the famous Bukovyna writer Olha Kobylianska in the village of Dymka.

There are 9 objects of cultural heritage of local importance on the territory of the village.

For decades, Ukrainians, Romanians, Moldovans, Poles, and representatives of other nationalities have lived here in harmony and mutual understanding.

Economy and Welfare

The Hlyboka territorial community is one of the centers of economic growth in the region, a hub of active cultural life, an area with a developed tourist and recreational infrastructure and good relations with neighboring communities. The former status of the district administrative center was naturally transformed into a leadership position at the subregional level – new investment projects are being implemented in the community: representative offices of logistics enterprises, IT companies are opening, processing industry based on local agriculture is developing.

Thus, local farmers and farms grow crops and breed animals, providing food for the community.

In a month, the cheese factory produces about a ton of hard and semi-hard cheeses, as well as other types of fermented milk products, which have already won the hearts of the gourmets of Bukovyna because they do not contain any preservatives. They opened their own store in Chernivtsi and are setting up delivery by “Nova Poshta” to all corners of the country.

Local shops, markets and outlets provide the population with essential goods, maintaining an uninterrupted supply of food, clothing, hygiene products and other essential items.

A logistics company and private carriers provide transport services, helping with the delivery of humanitarian aid and goods.

Individual entrepreneurs providing IT services support the economy by paying taxes on the provision of technological solutions and services in the international market.

Also, it is important to note that during the hostilities in Ukraine, the company Alebor Group built the Vadul-Siret terminal on the territory of the community in 2 years.

This is a dry grain port providing powerful storage possibilities with a daily intake of 12.8 thousand from cars and wagons, finishing grain options and a loading capacity of 8 trains per day. The terminal will be able to handle 3 million tons of grain per year and store up to 200,000 tons of grain at the same time. The group plans to turn the enterprise into a multi-purpose dry port. If the Vadul-Siret terminal currently provides transshipment and grain processing services, then in the future it is considering the possibility of working with mineral fertilizers and setting up return deliveries. In addition, under favorable circumstances, the terminal is planned to add capacity for container and oil off-loading and transfer over time.

Currently, a new multimodal terminal is being built in the settlement of Hlyboka – the grain handling complex will cover 8.5 hectares.

The Ukrainian-Dutch company FLORIUM deserves special attention as it is one of the first Ukrainian horticultural companies that began to realize the potential of the Internet for the sale of ornamental plants and bulbs from Holland.

The company has been engaged in online sales since 2007 and is one of the largest online plant stores in Ukraine. Planting material is sold in Europe and the USA.

Every year, during the flowering period of peonies, the FLORIUM company opens its field for visitors, where thousands of peony bushes bloom! The company transfers the received funds to help the Armed Forces. This year, this donation amounted to UAH 2 million.

The sphere of health care of the Hlyboka community is represented by 9 health care institutions, including: 4 outpatient clinics of general practice of family medicine, 5 paramedic stations and 1 administrative and economic unit.

There is a salt room in the community. Here, the consequences of the coronavirus infection are effectively treated, and our soldiers are rehabilitated after injuries.

In the Hlyboka community, the field of education works effectively, for which the largest part of funds is allocated from the community budget. There are 6 general education institutions, 4 preschool education institutions, 2 out-of-school education institutions, 2 schools of aesthetic education, an inclusive resource center, a center for professional development of pedagogical workers, a “Centralized System of Public School Libraries”, the “Center for Culture and Leisure of the Hlyboka Territorial Community”, a museum of history, and a children’s and youth sports school on the territory of the community. 

The community also has many sports grounds for various sports and football fields.

It is important to note that motocross competitions take place in the community, both within the framework of the Cup of Ukraine (Western region, cross-country) and at the regional and local level.

In order to preserve, restore and popularize the local gastronomic cultural heritage, as well as to increase the tourism potential of the community, the local festival “Hlyboka Medivnyk” was launched, where a delicious folk dessert – medivnyk – is tasted.

The Hlyboka community may be interesting to investors for its mineral potential, which is represented by deposits of building materials – loam, clay, gravel, pebbles, mineral water.

The development of healing muds of inorganic origin, located in the village of Hlyboka (Putylivska Str.) is also a promising area. They are unique in their chemical composition and medicinal properties.

The fact that it is located 30 km from Chernivtsi adds to the investment attractiveness of the Hlyboka community. The Chernivtsi – Bucharest railway and lines to Storozhynets and Krasnoilsk pass through the settlement. There is the railway station Hlyboka-Bukovynska. An international highway runs nearby.

Community and War

From the first days of the war, the residents of Hlyboka community stood up to defend their Motherland from russian aggression. Today, more than 800 men and women from the community defend Ukraine in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To date, 43 soldiers from the community have fallen died in the russo-Ukrainian war since 2014.

In the war, the community lost the legendary “cyborg” (defender of the Donetsk airport in 2014-15), Valerii Krasnian knows as “Bars”. He was a combatant from 2014. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he returned from abroad and stood up for the defense of Ukraine. He was killed on November 23, 2022 while performing a combat mission in the Kharkiv region.

Those residents of the community who do not fight at the front join various volunteer organizations and help the Ukrainian military by working in the home front.

A lot of attention in the community is given to helping internally displaced persons. From the beginning of the war, more than 1,653 internally displaced persons found shelter in the Hlyboka community. Over time, many of them migrated to Western countries. There are currently 319 IDPs in the community. A separate section with all important information has been created for them on the community website.

With the support of the UN Development Program in Ukraine, a space for psycho-emotional relief was created in 2024, which is aimed at improving the psychological state of internally displaced persons, community residents and providing them with psychological support and relief after stressful situations, which affects the quality of life and work capacity of various categories of people. 

Another interesting option available to IDPs in the community is a salt room. For example, after a halotherapy course, the psycho-emotional state of a family of immigrants from Mariupol improved: the children began to sleep better, the mother’s hand tremors went away, etc.

The Hlyboka community also actively cooperates with public organizations and international donors to implement projects aimed at supporting war victims. For example, the NGO “Space for Community Development” has implemented projects that include the creation of safe places for pregnant women and mothers with children, rehabilitation support, and the arrangement of rooms for psycho-emotional relief.

Since March 2024, on the initiative of local authorities and active residents of the community, they have been assembling Fpv drones for the needs of military personnel from the Hlyboka area, as part of the open-ended campaign, “Hlyboka Drone”. For this purpose, charity fairs and concerts are held in the community. Employees of communal institutions and organizations willingly transfer their daily earnings to the production of drones. Residents of the community, private entrepreneurs, and those currently working abroad also join.

People of the Community

Hlyboka Settlement Head Hryhorii Vanzuriak was first elected to the post of Settlement Head in 2015. After that, in 2020, he was re-elected and has been the permanent chairman since the creation of the Hlyboka settlement united territorial community.

The uniqueness of the Hlyboka community lies in its geographical location, namely its proximity to the Ukrainian-Romanian border (the Vadul-Siret railway crossing point (Ukraine-Romania). This deepens the community’s logistical potential and helps in the development of cross-border ties and cooperation with international partners.

By the way, the Hlyboka community is a partner of the DOBRE Program, UN Development Program in Ukraine, German Society for International Cooperation/ Deutsche Gesellschaft for Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Ukraine, Eastern regional action program of the European neighborhood instrument for municipal development, Ukraine-Romania program. We write approximately 20 projects per year. The community has 5 sister cities abroad.

Having a number of implemented international projects in its history, the community does not stop there. Currently, several initiatives are being implemented in the community, one of which is educational.

In the meeting hall of the Hlyboka Settlement Council, students from local schools are engaged in programming, robotics, and 3D modeling in the Innovative IThub four times a week. The event is organized as part of the project “Innovative IThub of the Hlyboka Community – from a small academy to a big future”, which is implemented by the public organization “Community Development Space”. The idea to combine administrative and educational spaces under one roof arose after 27 computer systems were installed in the renovated session hall with the support of the USAID DOBRE Program. Since deputies meet for meetings only once a month, they decided to use the technical resource for the work of the “small IT academy”.

Later, the community continued this successful project with other donors, thanks to which a 3D modeling and robotics school recently opened here.

Development Strategy

The development strategy of the Hlyboka community for 2021-2029 was adopted on October 23, 2021. The preparation of the Strategy was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The strategy was developed as part of the “Decentralization Offering Better Results and Efficiency (DOBRE)” program by a strategic team consisting of leaders and representatives of the local community.

Therefore, four strategic areas were formulated, which should become the driving force (form the foundation) of the future development of the community. These areas include:

1. The Hlyboka community is a regional center of economic growth

• Increasing investment attractiveness and stimulating private business initiatives in the community
• Supporting and promoting the development of agriculture with high added value
• Increasing the efficiency of using the tourist and recreational opportunities of the territory
• Creating an effective community marketing system

2. The Hlyboka community is a place for cooperation and self-realization

• Increasing public activity of residents
• Development of the cultural space of the community
• Expanding the possibilities of sports infrastructure

3. The Hlyboka community is a comfortable place to live

• Improving the quality of road infrastructure
• Improving public places
• Ensuring conditions for comprehensive development of children and youth
• Improving the quality of medical and social services

4. The Hlyboka community is an ecological space

• Increasing the efficiency of the solid waste collection system
• Modernizing the water supply and drainage system
• Improving the management of energy resources and development of alternative energy

List of Sources

• Community website – hlyboka-gromada.gov.ua