Oleksandriya Territorial Community

History of the Community

The Oleksandriya territorial community has historical, cultural, religious traditions and values. The development of the territory began in the early days of the development of the European continent and was connected with the discovery of ancient artefacts on the banks of the Inhulets River.

Within the boundaries of the territorial community, the settlement of people and the first known archaeological cultures has been observed by archaeologists since the 3rd millennium BC, the time of ancient pro-European cultures.

Pit and catacomb culture, such as ancient Indo-European communities, are represented by burials in barrows near the villages of Zvenyhorodka and Holovkivka.

The Scythian burial of a warrior near the village of Holovkivki dates back to the 5th-4th centuries BC.

Also, Sarmatian burials of the 3rd-2nd centuries BC were found within the community.

The formation of the centre of the territorial community – the future town of Oleksandriya – began in the 1830s. Population centres on the territory of the community sprang up as settlements of the early modern Ukrainian state – Hetmanship.

In 1785, the town’s first self-government body was created – the Oleksandriya Town Council.

Economy and Welfare

In the conditions of martial law, the vast majority of industrial enterprises of the Oleksandriya territorial community faced the problem of loss of product sales markets, lack of working capital, and difficulties in purchasing raw materials.

41 out of 47 industrial enterprises are active. Some enterprises are not working at their full capacity, for example:

• a furniture workshop: in June 2022, 240 jobs were cut as the enterprise works at 50% of its capacity, production and sales of products have been affected by the war, a number of consumers has reduced (at least 4 regions in the east of the country are lost, there is a decrease in foreign orders due to war risks and a three-fold increase in costs for export/import-related transportation).

• other productions operate three days a week on average;

20 enterprises were relocated to the territory of the community, where about 250 new jobs were created.

Thanks to the relocated enterprises that were able to start work in Oleksandriya, now the community has:

• production of chemical products for swimming pools, perfumes and cosmetics;
• production of ready-made food and dishes, flour confectionery;
• mechanical engineering, restoration and repair of machinery for industrial purposes;
• production of beneficiation and mining equipment;
• manufacture of cocoa, chocolate and other confectionery products;
• manufacture and repair of parts and accessories for motor vehicles;
• production of plastic plates, sheets, pipes and profiles; pumping, sewage and other equipment.

Community and War

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Oleksandriya has hosted hundreds of forcibly displaced people, providing them with temporary accommodation, free food, clothing and basic necessities. The number of displaced persons is about 10,000.

Thanks to the cooperation of the town authorities with charitable and public organizations and twin cities, the Oleksandriya community received food kits, basic necessities, beds, mattresses, generators, refrigerators, water heaters, etc.

Charity concerts were held with the aim of raising funds for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and raising the patriotic mood of the townspeople.

The community has a volunteer coordination centre of Oleksandriya whose main task is to collect humanitarian aid.

Volunteers, in close cooperation with local and district authorities, try to cater for all the needs reported by the military.

A clear structure of collection and provision of assistance has been developed. All entrepreneurs provide centralized aid which is efficiently and quickly distributed.

All information is concentrated in the coordination centre.

The main charitable organization is the “Help Centre of Oleksandriya”, through which humanitarian aid for internally displaced persons is transferred and humanitarian cargoes of international and all-Ukrainian charitable organizations are distributed.

The foundation works daily, serving 100-150 people a day, providing them with assistance, food and hygiene kits, blankets, bed linen and basic necessities. The foundation relies on the volunteers from among internally displaced persons.

One of the most powerful public organizations of a social orientation is the Oleksandriya town organization. The organization provides humanitarian aid to displaced persons weekly and takes care of compact accommodation centres.

The local football club “Oleksandriya” conducts charity tours for new residents and guests of the town that were forced to leave their homes due to the war.

People of the community

Mayor: Serhiy Kuzmenko

Thus, thanks to the charity foundation, assistance is provided systematically. During the first, most difficult months after the full-scale invasion, free hot lunches were provided to the displaced.

Thanks to the work of the community head and his team, the town received a modern park named after Shevchenko and a children’s playground “Space Station” – a unique children’s complex built according to the latest technologies on an area of 1,150 square meters.

Also, he initiated the creation of the Shevchenko Square – a place where townspeople gather on major public holidays and relax on other days.

For the first time, Oleksandiya has municipal transport.

The communal company “Olexandriya Transport” was created In 2021. 5 buses of Turkish production were purchased under the terms of financial leasing. The new buses are equipped not only with a spacious interior and comfortable seats, but also with folding ramps for wheelchairs, video surveillance, sound notifications and monitors that broadcast social videos and stop names.

The war has impeded the implementation of many projects, but despite everything, they are being realised even if at a slow rate: an indoor sports complex on the premises of the gymnasium, a complete reconstruction of the infectious disease department and its equipment, equipping the town with new special vehicles that will clean all micro-districts and quickly remove garbage, etc.

Development Strategy

A Community Development Strategy until 2030 has been developed in the Oleksandriya territorial community.

No less important is the approved Programme of Economic and Social Development of the Oleksandriya Territorial Community for 2023, which is aimed at intensifying the economic and social development of all branches of the territorial community under martial law.

The main investment projects, which will be implemented in the economic sector and other areas of activity in 2023 and which provide for the creation of jobs in the Oleksandriya Territorial Community:

– creation of a private eco-industrial park – 1,000 jobs

– construction of the Epicentre shopping mall – 70 jobs

– construction of the McDonald’s complex in Oleksandriya – 100 jobs

The measures taken during 2022 within the framework of the Strategy:

1. In 2022, work was carried out to involve farms and agricultural enterprises of the community to register in a single online platform to support agricultural producers – the State Agrarian Register (SAR). 9 community enterprises are entered in the platform. Within the framework of SAR, enterprises submitted applications for a competition to obtain grain storage facilities with a capacity of 200 tonnes from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Within the framework of the programme, 4 community enterprises received 35 grain storages.
2. The Oleksandriya Town Council submitted 12 potential community projects for presentation on the Global Business for Ukraine website and the Business Opportunities Investment Map of Ukraine of the European Business Association. Projects were presented among EBA partners and published on the Platform of the European Business Association.
3. In September 2022, 5 food enterprises of the community were involved in free participation in the International exhibition of the FOOD 2022 forum in Riga, which was related to access to new sales markets, the involvement of innovative technologies, the search for new partnerships with western countries, etc.

According to the results of the International Food Exhibition RIGA FOOD – 2022 held in the town of Riga (Republic of Latvia), the participants received an order to supply products to Latvia 

4. Enterprises of the community are involved in the Advantage Ukraine Investment Projects Platform for potential foreign investors, which was developed by the WPP* company with the support of the President of Ukraine.
5. In 2022, assistance and support was provided to production enterprises of the Oleksandriya territorial community regarding inclusion in the International Catalogue of Exporters (Action.Business). 17 community enterprises are registered in the Catalogue.
6. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, work has been carried out on the temporary relocation of enterprises from the affected regions of Ukraine, their involvement in the Oleksandriya territorial community within the framework of the Governmental programme to preserve the production and labour potential of Ukraine. For this purpose, a database has been created and a presentation has been prepared regarding free industrial spaces (the list is constantly updated) and land plots that are suitable for accommodating evacuated enterprises.

Over 250 applications for the relocation of enterprises have been processed since the beginning of the implementation of the Governmental programme.

List of Sources

• Website of the Oleksandriya Town Council