Ochakiv Territorial Community

History

Ochakiv is a town of regional subordination founded in 1492.

People settled on the site of present-day Ochakiv already in the first millennium BC. Ancient Slavs built fortifications between the Black Sea and the Dnipro – Bug Estuary. Ochakiv was founded in 1492 by Crimean Khan Mengli I Prey, on the site of the Lithuanian fortress of Dashiv, and was originally called Kara Kerman. A good strategic location also attracted Turkish immigrants there, who built a strong fortress near the sea and called it Achi-Kale, which sounds closely to the current name of Ochakiv.

During the times of independent Ukraine, the military built new fortifications in the area. Despite the fact that Ochakiv was a resort town for a long time, there were also military bases there in addition to the tourist ones.

The Kinburn Spit is formed by a natural complex of the lower Dnipro sands that accumulated in the mouth of the Dnipro during the last glaciation.

The National Nature Reserve of the White Coast of Sviatoslav and the Kinburn Spit Regional Landscape Reserve were created within its area.

Economy and Wellbeing

The town of Ochakiv is a resort town of local importance and a cultural centre. The priority areas of the town’s economic development include the development of the sanatorium-resort and tourism sector. Sandy beaches have a gentle bottom and stretch along the entire coast.

The coast is interesting because of its natural features such as sand spits, picturesque cliffs, gullies, shallow bays, lakes and solonchaks. The town itself is rich in interesting places such as the Suvorov Museum, the remains of the Turkish site of Achi-Kale; in addition, from there it is easy to get to the Kinburn Spit, the legendary Maysky Island (an artificial island where the base of military “seals” is located).

Small and medium-sized businesses are an important step in the development of the town. In recent years, this type of entrepreneurial activities has played an important role in the socio-economic development of the town, in particular, in the revenues received by the local budget, improvement of the town’s amenities, everyday life, etc.

The Ochakiv resort and recreation zone functions in the territory of the community, where the main health facilities for the treatment of respiratory organs and the nervous system are located on the coast of the Dnipro-Bug Estuary. The main balneological resources of the town and its adjacent territory are deposits of mineral water and mud.

Borysfen Sanatorium is a modern health resort, a multidisciplinary complex that offers programs for general strengthening of the body, health courses for treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular, nervous, musculoskeletal, respiratory, and endocrine systems. Physiotherapy, balneological procedures in combination with climatic factors are used for treatment.

Ochakiv Grain-Receiving Enterprise with its key lines of business being the storage of and trade in grain crops

The key strategic area of the Ochakiv Grain-Receiving Enterprise is the formation of an infrastructure platform that will help provide conditions for increasing the output of Ukrainian agricultural products as well as increasing Ukraine’s grain export potential.

A priority area of the community’s activities is the optimization of the provision of social services. The local social infrastructure is based on barrier-free principles.

For children with special educational needs aged 2 to 18, the Ochakiv Town Council launched the Inclusive Resource Centre, which provides psychological-pedagogical and correctional-developmental services to young residents of the community.

Community and War

Since 24 February 2022, the community has been under constant enemy fire from the russian federation. In recent months, the community’s territory has repeatedly been subjected to massive artillery fire and rocket attacks. As a result, industrial facilities, residential buildings, social, resort and port infrastructure facilities, and the coastline have been significantly damaged or destroyed.

Today, many Ochakiv residents defend Ukraine in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and those staying in the town help provide for the needs of the front.

The Ochakiv Town Council has established cooperation with charitable, international organizations, foreign business entities regarding humanitarian cooperation, as well as with foundations and other non-governmental organizations.

A process has been established regarding the distribution of humanitarian aid to the residents of the Ochakiv Urban Territorial Community and temporarily displaced persons.

People of the Community

Ochakiv Town Mayor Serhii Bychkov was first elected in October 2015 and is the current town mayor.

The key priority of the mayor’s activities is the comprehensive development of the community, creation of constructive interaction between the authorities and the residents, development of a new type of a community which would be a better place to live, work and rest in.

Development Strategy 

Today, the Ochakiv Urban Territorial Community is preparing its Development Strategy. The priority areas of the community development include:

• Spatial development of the community
• Infrastructure development (restoration of buildings and facilities of the engineering and transport infrastructure, coastline, ports, reconstruction of damaged production and industrial facilities
• Restoration of housing stock, construction of new housing
• Development of entrepreneurial activities
• Development of tourism (restoration and further development of sanatorium-resort facilities and recreation centres)
• Development of green energy

Sources

Official website of the Ochakiv Town Council  

Official Facebook page

Official website of the Mykolaiv Regional Council

Photo courtesy of local photographer Yurii Hureev taken in the territory of the Ochakiv Urban Territorial Community and provided to the Ochakiv Town Council for free usage