Rivne Territorial Community

History

Rivne is a great city, one of the largest cities in Western Ukraine, with over 700 years of history. Volodymyr Vasyliovych, the prince of Volhynia and the nephew of the well-known Daniel of Galicia (Danylo Halytsky) built Rivne on the eastern borders of his principality. 

From 1200 to 1340, the territory of the city belonged to the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. Since 1350s Rivne was under the rule of Great Duchy of Lithuania. Since 1479, the city passed to his wife Maria who became known as the Princess of Rivne.

During World War I, it was a frontline city for a long time. From September 1920 the city was a district center of Polish Volhynian Voivodeship. In December 1939, Rivne became the center of the newly established Rivne Oblast within the Ukrainian SSR.

The first recorded mention of Kvasyliv dates back to 1445. Throughout its history, from the moment when the town was established, Kvasyliv has been the center of both political and public life in Volhynia. Josef Perny was the main initiator of the founding of Kvasyliv.

In 1873, Czech brewer Josef Zeman moved with his family to Kvasyliv and began the construction of the local brewery. In 1885, the community built a new Orthodox church, which later became a cathedral. Kvasyliv acquired the status of an urban-type settlement in 1978.

In the 1960s and 1980s, the city faced the period of intensive growth and development. It was a dramatic change of the overall look of Rivne: new residential areas in the city center, new neighborhoods and new powerful companies appeared. The population of Rivne also grew significantly.

On June 16, 1990, when, for the first time in years the public of Ukraine in general and Rivne Oblast (region) in particular, openly and solemnly celebrated the anniversary of the Battle of Berestechko, the yellow-and-blue flag was flown over the official governmental building of the City Council.

In 2015, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) awarded the 2015 European Diploma to the city of Rivne. In 2020, the city of Rivne was awarded The Flag of Honour and in 2023, the city was awarded The Plaque of Honour which are the second & third levels in the PACE awards system, respectively.

There is a historic reenactment park, “Ostvytsia” on the territory of the community. The reenactment of a settlement from the time of ancient Rus has begun in this open-air museum. The idea of recreating an authentic ancient Rus settlement received significant support among Rivne residents, thus, the project “Creation of a historic reenactment park “Fort of Ostvytsia”” won the competition of projects financed from the Public Budget of the city of Rivne in 2019.

There is also a tourist and entertainment complex “Mysterious Dungeons of Rivne”. These are dungeons that were found during excavations in the very center of the city and are considered its most secret location. The community received a grant from the European Union for the implementation of the project, and two laboratories equipped with interactive multimedia devices were built on the site of the recently excavated underground city.

Economy and Welfare

Entrepreneurship of the Rivne community is represented by over 3,200 companies. In 2022, iinternational partners engaging in export operations included those from Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, France, USA, etc.

Trade and exports of services included transport services, telecommunication, computer and information services, travel-related services, business services, processing services, goods delivered abroad & others. Imports of services covered transport services, telecommunications, computer and information services, travel-related services, business services & others.

Exports structure consisted of food and raw materials, fuel and energy, petrochemicals and related products, wood, wood products, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, machinery & others.

Export of goods totaled $108,376,968 and import of goods totaled $298,250,121 in 2023.

The industrial sector in the Rivne Urban Territorial Community is diversified and includes mining, processing, supply of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning.

The key branches of the processing industry include the following:

– manufacture of chemicals and chemical products

– food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing

– mechanical engineering, except for repair and installation of machinery and equipment

– manufacture of textiles, manufacture of wearing apparel, leather, leather products and other materials

– manufacture of rubber and plastic products, other non-metallic mineral products

– manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment

– manufacture of furniture

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 21 enterprises have been relocated to the community.

Community and War

With the beginning of the full-scale war in February 2022, the residents of the Rivne community, like all Ukrainians, found themselves under enemy attacks. The russian federation has been launching rocket attacks on critical infrastructure facilities located on the territory of the community.

That is why it is important for the community to provide uninterrupted power supply, alternative sources of energy for medical institutions, social sphere objects, educational institutions, critical infrastructure objects and objects ensuring people’s livelihoods.

Since the first days of the Big War, the Rivne community has become a humanitarian hub for the storage of humanitarian goods and their redirection for the war-affected regions of Ukraine.

The Rivne community has also become a shelter for thousands of internally displaced persons who left their homes due to the hostilities. Currently, almost 19,000 internally displaced persons live on the territory of the community.

The community leadership, volunteers, public organizations continue to create conditions for them to stay. In particular, projects have already been implemented to create conditions for internally displaced persons with disabilities.

The leadership of the community is also making efforts to create conditions for the accommodation of enterprises relocated from the territories of hostilities, because now it is important for Ukraine that the economy works.

In the current situation, the Rivne community is the home front, and that is why it has the duty to provide treatment, recovery and rehabilitation of the Ukrainian military, who are in the trenches fighting against the enemy of the entire civilized world. Almost every week we meet evacuation trains with wounded.

People of the Community

Viktor Shakyrzian, Secretary of the Rivne City Council currently performs the duties of the Community Head.

The project “Development of small and medium-sized enterprises in the cities of Rivne and Lublin” totaled EUR 373.7 thousand.

Project results: 2 SME support institutions of the city of Rivne were created – the Business Promotion Center and the SME Council under the Mayor; 2 detailed reports on the evaluation of the business climate in the city of Rivne by SME representatives were compiled; at least 2,000 consultations were received by representatives of SMEs in the city of Rivne at the Business Promotion Center; at least 300 representatives of SMEs became visitors to the “days of licensing institutions” and received the information they needed; 450 people attended monthly training seminars at the Business Promotion Center; 160 people attended the seminar “Business school: how to start your own business”.

The project “Investments in culture. Systemic actions in cultural events” was submitted by the Government of the city of Lublin in partnership with the governments of the cities of Rivne, Ternopil, and Ivano-Frankivsk. The total cost of the project is EUR 160.6 thousand.

Within the framework of the project, 2 Medialab workshops were equipped (City Center of Culture and Rivne City Palace of Culture). Musical, lighting, stage equipment, electric generators, musical instruments, etc. were purchased for these institutions.

The project “Cultural heritage of cuisine – promotion of culinary traditions through the professionalization of the gastronomic offer of Lublin and Rivne” totaled EUR 65.8 thousand.

Within the scope of the project, a video clip of the traditional dish of the city of Rivne – “Matsyk” – was created, a catalog of traditional dishes of Rivne was developed, two strategies of cooperation and marketing communications were prepared for each city separately in the promotion of the traditional culinary heritage of Rivne and Lublin, an international gastronomic conference was held in Lublin and the Gastronomic Matsyk Festival was organized in Rivne, as well as the Association of Cooperation in the Field of Gastronomic Tourism between the Rivne City Council and the Municipality of Lublin was signed. 

Preparations are currently underway for the implementation of 2 projects worth EUR 2,448,673.

With the assistance of The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), 4 projects for the complete thermal modernization of communally owned buildings (9 buildings) were implemented for a total amount of EUR 3.76 million. Currently, the project is being implemented in the amount of EUR 3.496 million (grant funds).

Development Strategy

At the moment, one of the priorities for the Rivne community is the recognition of Rivne as an energy-efficient city. In 2023, Rivne took the path to achieve zero CO2 emissions.

That is why the Rivne community continues searching for funding and taking steps aimed at ensuring heat insulation of public buildings, health care facilities, and educational institutions, reaching their energy efficiency, installing individual heating points, adjusting and balancing internal heating systems, installing photovoltaic panels as alternative and uninterrupted power supply sources.

Today, the community center – the city of Rivne – is implementing a pilot project to create a barrier-free strategy. Further implementation of the developed document will require financing of the transformation of the urban space for low mobility citizens, disabled people, etc.

In addition, the community plans to build a rehabilitation center for military personnel, as this is very relevant for Ukraine at the present time.

The community is interested in the implementation of infrastructure projects related to the creation of a comfortable urban area, the development of bicycle infrastructure, touristic bicycle routes.

Also among the priority for us is the development of SMEs: today “Buy Rivne [goods]” initiatives are already taking place and a municipal business co-working space – a multifunctional public space to support entrepreneurs – is being created.

Rivne has 18 foreign partners (twin towns): Piotrków Tribunalski, Zabrze, Lublin, Gdańsk, Jelenia Góra and Radomszczanski Powiat (all – Poland); Vidin (Republic of Bulgaria); Zvolen (Slovak Republic), Oberviechtach, Essen, Pankow Berlin (Germany); Kobuleti (Sakartvelo); Severodonetsk, Kupyansk (Ukraine); East Brunswick, Federal Way (USA); Principality of Monaco; Lund (Sweden).

List of Sources

• Rivne City Council official website 
• The Department of Strategic Development and Investment of the Rivne City Council 
• Profile of the Rivne hromada (community)
• The Wikipedia page