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Kitsman Territorial Community
Chernivtsi
Population:
The Kitsman community is located in the Chernivtsi region in the western part of Ukraine. The total area of the community is 180.1 square kilometers. The Kitsman community includes 11 population centers.
As of January 1, 2023 the population of the community was 21,129 people.
Men: 8,871 people
Women: 12,258 people
Children: 3,861
Internally displaced persons: 600.
History
The administrative center is the town of Kitsman, the first mentions of which date back to 1413.
The most famous figure of the town is the outstanding composer Volodymyr Ivasiuk. It is with him that Kitsman is associated.
Volodymyr Ivasiuk is a Ukrainian performing composer, musician, multi-instrumentalist, poet. One of the founders of Ukrainian pop music. Author of 107 songs, 53 instrumental works, music for several plays.
Therefore, there are several important places related to the life and work of the incredible composer in Kitsman, namely: the house where Ivasiuk lived, the music school named after V. Ivasiuk, the museum and the monument to the Maestro.
Economy and Welfare
The basis of the community’s economy is small business and agriculture.
352 active companies and 1,031 individual entrepreneurs operate on the territory of the community. Most of the enterprises are engaged in agriculture, retail trade, catering and services.
The largest agricultural enterprises of the community are “Valiavske”, “Imeni Kryklyvtsia”, “Shypynetska Zemlia”, and “Oshykhlibske”, which grow wheat, soybeans, corn, and rapeseed. In addition, there are pork, poultry, and fish farming enterprises operating on the territory of the community.
The community has at its disposal land plots that are potentially attractive for investment. This is especially relevant given the good transport accessibility. Two highways of state importance pass through the community, and there is a railway station in the town of Kitsman.
Also, the rivers Sovytsia Kitsmanska, Sovytsia Stavchanska and Prut flow here.
The leadership of the community, together with representatives of the business sphere, arranged public roads of state importance. Also, pothole repairs of communal roads of local importance are constantly being carried out.
There are places for public recreation in the community – garden squares and a park.
The educational sphere is well developed in the community. There are 9 schools and 10 preschool educational institutions operating here. The community also has the art school, the V. Ivasiuk music school, the house of children’s creativity, the Kitsman Children’s and Youth Complex Sports School, the Kitsman Sports Club, and the separate structural division – the Kitsman Vocational College of the Podillia Agrarian University.
Special attention is paid to children. Children’s and sports grounds have been opened in most population centers of the territorial community. The town council constantly provides targeted assistance to preschools and school institutions, in particular, renovation and repair of cafeterias and toilets.
It is also important that the community leadership, together with representatives of the business sphere, arranged public roads of state importance and ensures that pothole repair of communal roads is constantly carried out. There are also places for public recreation – garden squares and a park.
The medical sector consists of the Kitsman Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Hospital, the Kitsman Primary Care Center, which includes 3 outpatient clinics in the town of Kitsman, the village of Shypyntsi and the village of Ivankivtsi, as well as 8 health centers.
The cultural center of the community is the Communal Institution “Center of Art, Culture and Leisure” of the Kitsman Town Council. One of the main functions is the organization and holding of mass events for people of all ages.
Its structure includes 4 folk amateur groups, 6 cultural centers, 4 clubs and the Kitsman Museum of History and Local Lore.
Also, the Model School, the sports and ballroom dance group “Grand”, the music studio “Belcanto” operate on the basis of the Center of Art, Culture and Leisure.
Currently, there are 79 amateur formations attended by 812 people of various ages in all cultural institutions.
According to the results of the work of 2023, employees of cultural institutions held 273 mass cultural events attended by 65,000 visitors.
The intangible cultural heritage of the community – Sukhoverkhiv Malanka – is significant for the entire Bukovyna region.
This custom of celebrating winter holidays is very old, dating back to pre-Christian pagan times, when people celebrated the freezing of winter nature until its spring revival.
A thin crowd of up to fifty people moves through the village of Sukhoverkhiv to each unmarried girl’s house with carols, dances, jokes, and shouts starting from noon until night.
Household owners of the village were always happy to see malankars, because they believed that if it was a boy who first entered the house on New Year’s, then happiness and goodness woulld reign throughout the year.
The Malanka tradition has been preserved to this day, is passed down from generation to generation, and is therefore alive.
Community and War
From the first days of the war, residents of the Kitsman community rushed to defend their Motherland from russian aggression. Today, more than 400 local men defend Ukraine in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To date, 50 soldiers from our community have died.
Community Head Serhii Buleha also served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine from June 2022 to January 2023.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the community has been concerned with the issues of internally displaced persons, their accommodation and food. At the beginning of the great war, about 3,000 internally displaced persons arrived in the community, but then many of them emigrated abroad. Volunteers are actively involved in collecting and sending humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine. This process operates in the community on a permanent basis and involves the office of the town council, public volunteer organizations, private entrepreneurs, enterprises and residents of the Kitsman community.
Over the past 3 years, the town council has purchased a lot of equipment required by the military, including quadcopters, tablets, a portable EW system, charging stations, etc. The community has organized the provision of comprehensive support to military personnel and residents of the territorial community, including free meals for children whose parents are serving in the army, allocation of financial aid for medical treatment at the request of combatants and military personnel.
Cooperation with international charitable organizations that provide financial and material assistance to internally displaced persons has also been arranged here.
People of the Community
Mayor of Kitsman, Serhii Buleha, was first elected to the post in 2010. Since then, he has been re-elected to the post of mayor 5 times. He has been a permanent mayor since the establishment of the Kitsman United Territorial Community.
In 2017, he initiated the creation of the Kitsman United Territorial Community as part of Decentralization in Ukraine, was active during the merger of territorial communities and was elected mayor of the Kitsman United Territorial Community. He skillfully adjusted the work of departments, institutions and facilities in order to save money from the town budget during the martial law period, which made it possible to preserve the operations of all institutions and facilities.
Serhii Buleha has a number of regional and state awards for his active work, including the 3rd Degree Order of Merit (2016) and the 2nd Degree Order of Merit (2021) which were presented to the head of the Kitsman community by the President of Ukraine.
The Kitsman community is rich in famous people, including the talented composer and one of the founders of Ukrainian pop music Volodymyr Ivasiuk, the duo “Pysanka”, Ukrainian athlete, Honored Master of Sports of Ukraine in athletics, 1,500m indoor European and world champion, participant of three Olympic Games Ivan Heshko and many others.
Development Strategy
The Kitsman Territorial Community is working on the idea of its Development Strategy.
However, many important projects have already been implemented in the community.
Restructuring of the housing and utilities sector was carried out. This included a major repair of the system of treatment facilities, laying a second water line to the town of Kitsman, and arranging a landfill for solid household waste.
Considerable attention, including financial support, is given to the community’s heath facilities. The purchase of necessary medical equipment is financed from the town budget.
Also, town council departments are tasked with participating in thermal modernization and reconstruction projects of these institutions. Every year, the Town Council participates in the co-financing of the projects (thus, an elevator for the transportation of critically ill patients in the Kitsman Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Hospital was put into operation on these terms in 2023).
Cooperation has been established with the Bielsko-Biała County (Republic of Poland), which constantly supports the Kitsman Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Hospital.
List of Sources
- link to the community’s official website
- links to community social media pages:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/888004791360431/
https://www.instagram.com/kitsman_otg/