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Safiany Territorial Community
Odesa
Population:
The Safiany territorial community is located in the Izmail district of the Odessa region.
The total area of the territory is 993 km2. The population of the community is 41,887 people.
Women: 21,770
Men: 20,117.
IDPs: 761.
The community includes 19 population centers and has its administrative center in the village of Safiany.
History
The Safiany community is located in the southwest of Ukraine, in the former Nogai steppes of Budzhak. The historical name is Budzhak, or southern Bessarabia. It is an area with a rich past, ethnic diversity and unusual nature.
The village of Bahate was once called Doluköy, which means “dead village” in Turkish. It was founded in the early 19th century by Bulgarian immigrants, who brought here the traditions of winemaking, sericulture and livestock breeding. In 1913, the village became the center of peasant uprisings, which were brutally suppressed by the authorities.
The village of Kalanchak was once part of a Nogai settlement, and later became home to Bulgarian settlers from the village of Izvorsko. A Bronze Age settlement has been found on the village’s territory, indicating its ancient habitation.
The village of Komyshivka takes its name from the abundance of reeds in the local floodplains (“komysh” translates as reeds from Ukrainian). Founded in 1814, it preserves the history of colonists who brought the traditions of gardening and farming here.
The village of Matroska arose at the end of the 18th century as a settlement of sailors of the Danube Flotilla. And the village of Loshchynivka was called Kairaklia until the middle of the 20th century. In 1850, one of the region’s first national schools was opened here. The village survived the times of annexation by Romania and return to Ukraine in 1940.
The villages of the Safiany community are famous for their unique architectural monuments, which combine historical heritage and regional features.
One of these monuments is the complex of the Old Believer Church of St. John the Theologian. It is a model of 19th century religious architecture. It was built with donations from Old Believers and has preserved a unique interior and ancient icons.
Also, in the village of Stara Nekrasivka is the southernmost point of the Struve Arc, a grandiose geodetic project included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The monument was erected in 1857 in honor of the scientific feat of geodesists in measuring the 280-kilometer arc of the meridian connecting Stara Nekrasivka and the Norwegian settlement of Hammerfest.
The village of Nova Nekrasivka is a unique center of Old Believers who preserve their traditions, language and rituals. Here you can learn more about the culture of this community, taste local dishes prepared according to authentic recipes. The severity of religious laws, isolation in compact living spaces, large God-fearing families – all this helped the Old Believers preserve their culture, customs, rituals and even their unique dialect for centuries.
One of the main natural features of the Safiany community is the Danube floodplains, part of the Danube Biosphere Reserve. The floodplains occupy vast areas in the west of the community and are unique wetland ecosystems that are important for maintaining biodiversity in the region.
These natural areas serve as a wintering ground for rare bird species, including pink pelicans, and are also home to numerous species of fish and aquatic animals. The Danube floodplains are of great ecological importance, as they act as natural filters for water and are important in the processes of preserving water resources. Rare species of flora and fauna which are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine are found here.
The territory of the community has several islands and many lakes. Safian is a large freshwater lake which is part of wetlands that provide natural conditions for the existence of waterfowl and fish.
Lake Yalpuh is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Ukraine located south of the Danube. Yalpuh plays a key role in supporting aquatic bioresources, especially for rare fish species such as sturgeon, and wild carp and other species typical of southern water areas.
Lake Kuhurlui is a breeding ground for many species of waterfowl and is also important for local ecosystems supporting fisheries and aquatic fauna.
The community’s villages are home to many ethnic sub-communities: Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Moldovans, Old Believers. They preserve unique winemaking traditions and are famous for their vegetable greenhouses and folk crafts.
The Safiany community is not only a place to relax in the lap of nature, but also an exciting journey into the world of Bessarabian traditions, cultural diversity, and unexplored pages of history. It is a place where the soul of Southern Ukraine comes to life.
Economy and Welfare
The main industry of the community’s economy is agriculture.
The agricultural sector of the community specializes in growing grain and industrial crops, including wheat, barley, fodder crops, vegetables, grapes, and fruits. Plant growing predominates in the sectoral structure of agriculture.
LLC “Dunaiskyi Agrarii” is Ukraine’s one of the main producers of organic eggs and the only organic producer of meat chickens, ducks and sheep in Ukraine. The process of collecting, processing and storing all products meets all the requirements of organic certification of the international body “Organic Standard” and is certified by EU-UA-BIO, BIO SUISSE, COR, GRASP-GLOBAL GAP, Risk Assessment on Social Practice. The company also grows grain crops, berries, and fruits.
The company’s products can be found in almost all supermarket chains in the country and are also exported to the UK, Austria, Germany, France, Sweden, and other countries.
Manufacturing industry is represented by enterprises producing bakery and flour products. The retail network includes 225 retail outlets.
Community and War
On February 24, 2022, the lives of the residents of the Safiany community were divided into before and after. In the first days of the full-scale invasion, the border community found itself at the crossroads of evacuation routes for Ukrainian citizens.
A community coordination headquarters was created. The community head reported daily in video messages about the situation in the community and called for obtaining information exclusively from official sources.
Employees of the Safiany Village Council and its executive bodies became volunteers who unloaded humanitarian aid, received and resettled IDPs, collected and provided basic necessities, and worked around the clock.
The village council assembly hall became a warehouse for humanitarian aid, and kindergartens and the sports palace became overnight shelters for people who were left homeless.
Many residents joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. During the period of the large-scale invasion, 10 assets were destroyed in the community, 7 of which were residential assets.
Today, the Safiany community is a community that organizes charitable events in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, having sent 28 cars to the front, an endless number of goodies, self-made candles and natural bars, homemade canned meat and sauerkraut, and of course, cards of support from children.
Community People
The Safiany community is headed by Natalia Todorova.
From the very beginning of her term of office, her main task was to build a governance structure in the newly created community. Each of the 19 population centers has its own unique history, culture, customs, and traditions. Therefore, it was important to preserve the social infrastructure and jobs in all villages.
During the entire period of work, not a single school or kindergarten was closed, all libraries, cultural centers, outpatient clinics operate, and dance and vocal groups have been preserved.
The community was created during the pandemic. Despite the challenges, repairs and construction work were carried out here to preserve the community’s infrastructure.
Medicine is actively developing: a surgical department was opened, modern conditions for patients in our hospital departments were created, and medical equipment is being updated.
Despite all the challenges of wartime, the community is implementing reforms, developing international activities, volunteering, and continuing to fulfill its direct duties: teaching, treating, providing social support, and administrative services.
All community schools have been operating offline since September 1, 2022. The ASC has been reorganized here and each Starosta-headed district now has an administrator. Also, a new palliative care department is being prepared for opening.
Development Strategy
In November 2024, the community began writing the Strategy together with experts from the USAID HOVERLA program.
The goal of the leadership team is to be a community in which it is comfortable to live, work, receive education, receive quality treatment and work. Therefore, they do everything here to achieve their goal. The community is proud of its achievements, which have been made over the past four years, despite three years of full-scale invasion:
- They have successfully completed the transition stage of service provision from the district level to the community level in the field of medicine, education, culture, ASC, and social protection.
- They have begun the reorganization of the housing and utility services sector: some utility companies have been merged, others have been reoriented, they are independently repairing utility roads, and an effective team of electricians has been created to restore power supply in the face of shelling of critical infrastructure.
- It is the first community in the Odessa region to open all community schools offline, just six months after a large-scale invasion.
- A surgical department has been opened and a palliative department is being prepared for opening.
- They are participants in international programs USAID “HOVERLA”, EGAP, develop project activities, work with ACTED, UNICEF, WeWorld, ForumZFD, World Central Kitchen.
- They are launching the energy management system.
