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Rozhniativ Territorial Community
Ivano-Frankivsk
Population:
The Rozhniativ territorial community is located in the west of Ivano-Frankivsk region. The area of the community is 179,865 km2. The distance to Krakowiec, the nearest checkpoint on the border with the EU is 186 km.
In 2020, 10 population centers with the administrative center in the settlement of Rozhniativ merged into the Rozhniativ community.
According to the latest data, 20 thousand people live in the community.
Women: 10,985.
Men: 9,015 people.
Internally displaced persons: 290.
One of the region’s largest, the Chechva reservoir was built in the vicinity of the settlement of Rozhniativ. The river Limnytsia, one of Ukraine’s cleanest rivers, and its tributaries – the rivers Chechva, Duba, and Berezhnytsia – flow through the territory of the community.
History
Each population center of the Rozhniativ community has its own unique traditions and rich historical and cultural heritage.
The settlement of Rozhniativ, as one of the oldest population centers in the Carpathian region, is included in the List of Historical Population Centers of Ukraine. Mentions of Rozhniativ date back to the 12th century. In 1875, it officially received the status of a town with Magdeburg rights.
Rozhniativ is also associated with the castle of Count Skarbka which was built in the 15th century. In 1944, the Bolshevik “liberators” destroyed the tower of the castle. From that time, militia and police structures were located in the castle building.
During the Second World War, a synagogue was destroyed in the then multinational Rozhniativ. And in 1965, the church was completely destroyed by the Soviet regime.
Historically, logistically and traditionally, Rozhniativ was also a center of trade. As far back as 1840, the town of Rozhniativ had seven annual fair days, unlike the neighboring big cities.
Spiritual heritage is one of the largest in the community. Eight ancient churches and the Roman Catholic Church in the village of Svarychiv have been preserved here.
The history of most of the villages of the community is connected with the extraction of salt, the deposits of which are characteristic of the foothills. A salt well has been preserved in the village of Petranka to this day.
Strutyn mounds are a historical archaeological site: an ancient Rus hillfort was discovered on the territory of the village of Nizhniy Strutyn, a pottery kiln of the early CE and the burial ground of the Carpathian mound culture were excavated. To date, 16 out of 46 mounds have been investigated.
An interesting object for geologists and scientists is the Chechva tuff horizon, the traces of a supervolcano – Mount Sokil in the village of Verkhniy Strutyn. The remains of the former defensive fortification of the 12th century are also preserved here. Mount Sokil is a unique landscape attraction for tourists.
The “Boykivshchyna” Museum is one of the hubs for the preservation of historical and cultural heritage in Rozhniativ and the nine villages that are part of the Rozhniativ territorial community. The community also has two private historical and ethnographic museums in the villages of Svarychiv and Topilske.
The territory of the Rozhniativ community is part of the ethno-cultural region of Eastern Boykivshchyna. Local boykos preserve and develop their history, culture, traditions, and everyday life. A significant role in this is played by cultural institutions, in particular – the People’s House in the settlement of Rozhniativ with nine branches and the Rozhniativ library with eleven branches in the community’s population centers.
Economy and Welfare
A small business is actively developing in the community, a large part of which is engaged in the woodworking industry. The traditions of the production of wooden furniture and upholstered furniture were formed and developed here. Among the most famous enterprises is “Roman” which has been producing high-quality wooden products for 20 years: European windows and doors, as well as furniture with a stylish design. The young but ambitious enterprise “2Kombel” manufactures exclusive mirrors in wooden frames, which are in demand not only in Ukraine, but also abroad. Local factories “Lir”, “Renata” and “Nadia” have many years of experience in the production of upholstered furniture and always offer an updated range of products.
The Rozhniativ community has a favorable climate and land resources for attracting investments in environmentally friendly agriculture, in particular – berry growing, nut growing, horticulture, beekeeping and processing industry. The enterprise “Damba” attracted investments and started the production of flour products.
The Rozhniativtorf Enterprise which plans to extract peat at a deposit in the village of Verkhniy Strytyn, has started the implementation of an investment project.
The community has a developed network of educational institutions: 4 gymnasiums, 5 lyceums, 5 preschools. Opportunities for the development of talents are provided to children and young people by institutions of extracurricular education – a house of children’s and youth creativity, a children’s and youth sports school, and a children’s art school.
Medical services to residents of the Rozhniativ and neighboring communities are provided by two communal non-profit enterprises of the Rozhniativ settlement council: “Primary Medical Care Center” and “Rozhniativ Multidisciplinary Hospital”.
Community and War
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Rozhniativ community has been actively involved in public and volunteer activities: the coordination center established by the settlement council started working and residents contributed to equipping and helping the military. With predominantly individual residential housing in the community, residents welcomed IDPs into their own homes. At that time, the number of IDPs in the community was 10 percent of the total number of community residents.
The community collected and delivered humanitarian aid for residents of the frontline areas, for Kyiv hospitals in the difficult times of the first days of the full-scale war, as well as for the de-occupied towns and villages of the Kyiv region, for people who suffered as a result of the blow-up of the Kakhovka HPP.
Residents of the community weave camouflage nets for the military, conduct Easter and Christmas volunteer actions. Children draw pictures, weave rosaries with their own hands and hand them over to the military.
People of the Community
Vasyl Rybchak is the settlement head and the first head of the Rozhniativ Territorial Community elected in October 2020 after the merger.
Hundreds of residents of the community joined the ranks of the Armed Forces to defend the state. Many of them have been awarded honorary degrees.
Halyna Fedyshyn, a combat medic from the village of Svarychiv, Rozhniativ community, went through the difficult path of the defense of Mariupol and almost two years of captivity. She was the last female marine in russian captivity and was awarded the Order “For Saved Life” back in 2021.
In the community, measures are taken to integrate IDPs into the local community, trainings and master classes are held to improve the psycho-emotional state of IDPs and families of servicemen. A positive experience is the organization of joint work (formation of aid packages, improvement of the local park, etc.), and charity events.
Since May 2022, a children’s space has been operating in Rozhniativ, which has united various public and charitable organizations, employees of local communal institutions, church communities, and entrepreneurs to support children and their psycho-emotional state in war conditions.
Workshops and thematic photo sessions are held for children. Children of defenders took part in a master class on artistic painting of T-shirts – “My dad is a hero!”.
The community constantly supports military personnel and their families, and also honors the memory of fallen defenders. Events, sports tournaments, and a local program are organized for them.
Development Strategy
To achieve strategic goals, the following activities are carried out in the community:
- Implementation of a local energy plan – for a green and energy-efficient future, ensuring energy sustainability.
- Preservation of the environment through the solid household waste management system and the development of sewerage and sewage treatment projects
- Creation of conditions and application of innovative teaching methods – for the sake of sports and creative achievements of young people.
- Preservation and reproduction of the Boykos ethnographic heritage.
- Introduction of electronic democracy tools.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, energy sustainability of the community, safe living and learning conditions, recreation and psycho-emotional recovery, preservation of historical and cultural heritage have become the defining priorities.
To increase energy sustainability, land plots have been allocated in the community to attract investments in alternative energy.
For the stability of critical infrastructure, it is planned to build a SPP at the facilities of the hospital and water works. A technical and economic justification for the construction of the SPP was developed with grant funds.
In order to create safe learning conditions, shelters are being set up in educational institutions.
For the psycho-emotional recovery of military personnel and their family members, it is planned to implement a country recreation project around the reservoir and develop a network of mountain bike routes through the territory of the community.
The key to obtaining new knowledge and communications is partnership, the implementation of joint projects and the exchange of experience. The community is actively developing inter-municipal and international cooperation. The partners of the community include: Gmina Jastków, Lublin Voivodeship, the Republic of Poland and the Rozhyshche Community of the Volyn Region. Having studied the experience of Polish partners, the Kredens joint project is being implemented on digitalization of libraries and preservation of cultural heritage together with Rozhyshche and Horokhiv communities.
List of Sources
- Rozhniativ Settlement Council