Nyzhniy Verbizh Territorial Community

History

The administrative center of the community is the village of Nyzhniy Verbizh. The first mentions of the village date back to 1443.

The most famous landmark of the village of Nyzhniy Verbizh is the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God. A wooden church built in 1756-1808, it is an outstanding monument of architecture and monumental art. On June 21, 2013, at the 37th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God, along with other wooden churches of the Carpathian region, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. 

Now the community is looking for investments to restore the wooden temple in its authentic appearance.

Economy and Welfare

About 150 business entities operate on the territory of the community. Generally, these are small enterprises with up to 25 employees. Most of the enterprises are engaged in construction, production of construction materials, agriculture, woodworking, forestry, trade, catering, and hotel services.

The community has at its disposal land plots that are potentially attractive for investment. This is especially relevant given the short- and medium-term expectations of good transport accessibility.

From the point of view of economic development, the community can also be of interest to tourists going to the National Park Hutsulshchyna and further to the Carpathians. In the community, along the road of state importance R-24, hotel and restaurant assets already operate, which shows the potential for the development of the economy based on tourism.

The community develops alternative energy: in 2019, the Village Council entered into a lease agreement for 5 hectares of land with the Sonyachna Alternatyva Company which operates in the field of alternative energy. According to this agreement, the village budget receives more than UAH 100,000 annually.

In 2018, the Village Council started the “Participatory Budget” practice, thus public institutions and active community residents have the opportunity to take an active part in decision-making and join the community development process. Over this time, more than 20 public budget projects were successfully implemented.

In the Nyzhniy Verbizh community, the field of education works effectively, for which the largest part of funds is allocated from the community budget. There are 6 institutions of general secondary education, 4 institutions of preschool education, 1 educational institution in the field of culture (Nyzhniy Verbizh Children’s School of Arts) here.

Great attention is paid to children with special educational needs who receive psychological-pedagogical and correctional services in educational institutions. Specialists of various profiles work with children. They are tasked with helping each child integrate into society.

The community also has 6 village libraries, 6 school libraries, and 7 cultural centers.

Also, the local festival, Hutsul Wedding was started in the community to preserve, restore and popularize the local cultural heritage, as well as to increase the tourist potential of the community.

A special hallmark of the community is the Hutsul feather wreath of the bride, which was traditionally worn by all brides for many centuries and until 1950. The art of weaving a feather wreath was restored and preserved by craftsmen. Currently, employees are working to ensure that this wreath is included in the intangible cultural heritage of Ukraine. The community has creative groups that participate and win in national and international art competitions.

There are many sports grounds for various sports and football fields in the community. The local youth football team became the winner of the district football tournament.

Community and War

From the first days of the war, residents of the Nyzhniy Verbizh community rushed to defend their Motherland from Russian aggression. Today, more than 300 community men defend Ukraine in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To date, 10 soldiers from our community have died, 5 are considered missing, and more than 20 are seriously injured.

Those residents of the community who cannot fight at the front today join various volunteer organizations and help our soldiers by working in the rear.

Men and boys are raising money for military vehicles, drones and other ammunition. Charity auctions and other events are constantly held in the community with the aim to collect funds for the needs of the military.

A lot of attention is given in the community to helping internally displaced persons. Since the beginning of the war, more than 4,000 internally displaced persons have found shelter in the Nyzhniy Verbizh community.

People of the Community.

Yaroslav Miakushchak was first elected to the post of Head of the Village of Nyzhniy Verbizh in 2011. Re-elected 4 times, he has been a permanent Village Head since the beginning of the creation of the Nyzhniy Verbizh United Territorial Community.

In July 2023, the Nyzhniy Verbizh community experienced one of the strongest floods in its history. The community is located at the foot of the Carpathians. Four mountain rivers flow through the community which during the period of heavy rains burst their banks and become a destructive power. So, in 2023, 5 bridges and more than 20 kilometers of communal roads were destroyed in the community by the force of nature. 130 residential buildings were flooded, agricultural fields belonging to 350 families were flooded and destroyed, and one person died.

Development Strategy

The basis of the effective activity of the Nyzhniy Verbizh community is strategic planning of activities. Since 2017, the Nyzhniy Verbizh Village Council has been a participant in the DOBRE Program, which is financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In 2023, the Village Council became a participant in the DOBRE Program (Phase II), which indicates the successful and effective work of the Village Council in the direction of local self-government decentralization in Ukraine. Since then, the Village Council has implemented almost two dozen successful projects together with the DOBRE Program, and together with foreign specialists of the DOBRE Program, they have written and approved the Community Development Strategy for the period until 2026.

 The main tasks of local authorities are as follows:

– repair and maintenance of communal roads
– thermal modernization of community educational institutions.
– construction of a gym in the Nyzhniy Verbizh Lyceum.
– construction of dams and bank stabilization in settlements of the community.
– construction of the Cultural Center in the village of Velykyi Kliuchiv.
– construction of a new community safety center and purchase of a new fire truck.

 List of Sources

• Official website of the Nyzhniy Verbizh Village Council
• Official Facebook page of the Village Council
• The collection of photographs was taken by Vladyslav Sodel on the territory of the Nyzhniy Verbizh rural territorial community as part of the USAID DOBRE project and provided to the executive committee of the Nyzhniy Verbizh Village Council for free use.