Shchyrets Territorial Community

Population:

The Shchyrets Territorial Community is situated in the territory of the Lviv District in the Lviv Region.

The total area of the territory amounts to 11,372 square kilometres.

Population: 9,924 residents
Men: 3,688 residents
Women: 4,213 residents
Children: 2,023 residents
Pensioners: 2,378 residents
Internally displaced persons: 56 people

The Community consists of fourteen villages with its administrative centre being the urban-type village of Shchyrets.

History

 Shchyrets was first mentioned in the annals in 1113. The town was surrounded by walls on all of its sides, but in 1241 it was destroyed by the Mongol army. In 1391, a Roman Catholic parish was established there, and in 1397, Polish King Wladyslaw II Jagailo granted the Magdeburg rights to the town as evidenced by the Market Square in the centre. In the Middle Ages, the area was destroyed and burned down several times by the Tatars. Since the middle of the 17th century, Shchyrets has been famous for the production of gypsum and lime.

Shchyrets and the surrounding villages have been multinational throughout the ages. Jews, Poles, Ukrainians and, after the first partition of Poland, Germans in the Rosenberg colony lived there.

There are three architectural landmarks in the territory of the Community: the Defence Church of St. Stanislav (the beginning of the 15th century), the Church of the Holy Trinity (the first half of the 16th century), and the Defence Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin (the first half of the 16th century).

Church of the Holy Trinity
Church of the Holy Trinity
Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin
Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin
Church of St. Stanislav
Church of St. Stanislav

There are also two museums – the Museum of Memory of the Victims of Stalin’s Repressions and the Museum of Osip Kurylas.

The Community runs two museums: the Museum of Memory of the Victims of Stalin’s Repressions and the Museum of Osyp Kurylas.

At the museum of Ukrainian artist Osyp Kurylas
At the museum of Ukrainian artist Osyp Kurylas
Museum of Memory of the Victims of Stalin’s Repressions
Museum of Memory of the Victims of Stalin’s Repressions

Economy and Welfare

The largest enterprises in the Community are engaged in glass products, construction, production of ventilation equipment, dry construction mixtures, plates, sheets, pipes and plastic tubes, kitchen equipment. The Community also has a factory of reinforced concrete products, agricultural enterprises. In total, 500 enterprises operate in the Community.

Glass blowing company “Start”
Glass blowing company “Start”
Baltom Ukraine, a company building roads, airstrips and other complex structures
Baltom Ukraine, a company building roads, airstrips and other complex structures Source
Alba, one of the leading producers of building materials in Ukraine
Alba, one of the leading producers of building materials in Ukraine Source
Shchyrets factory of reinforced concrete products
Shchyrets factory of reinforced concrete products Source
AMA Composites Ukraine, construction of plates, sheets, pipes and plastic tubes, kitchen equipment
AMA Composites Ukraine, construction of plates, sheets, pipes and plastic tubes, kitchen equipment Source

The Community runs a family medicine outpatient clinic, two preschools and eight schools.

People’s amateur dance ensemble “Shchyrchanka”
People’s amateur dance ensemble “Shchyrchanka”
People’s amateur vocal ensemble “Homin”
People’s amateur vocal ensemble “Homin”

Community and War

The Community responded to the full-scale invasion by joining its efforts to resist it. In the first days, all the employees of the Settlement Council and educational institutions registered, received and accommodated internally displaced persons evacuated from the war zone around the clock. For two years, more than 1,100 internally displaced persons lived in the Community. They were provided with aid they needed; in particular, they were accommodated in social institutions, provided with necessary things and three meals a day. At present, fifty-two internally displaced persons live in the private sector.

The German partner town of Gudensberg has been providing support and aid since the beginning of the invasion, most of which the Community is sending to eastern Ukraine. In particular, these are foods, medicines, generators, heaters, water purifiers and fire trucks from Germany.

Registration of internally displaced persons
Registration of internally displaced persons
Aid provided to internally displaced persons
Aid provided to internally displaced persons
Aid provided by the partner town of Gudensberg
Aid provided by the partner town of Gudensberg
A fire truck to be handed over to eastern Ukraine
A fire truck to be handed over to eastern Ukraine
Water purifiers for the population in the war zone
Water purifiers for the population in the war zone

People of the Community

The Community is run by its Head Oleh Vasylyshyn. 

 

The Head of the Community (left in the photo) distributing Easter food kits to internally displaced persons
The Head of the Community (left in the photo) distributing Easter food kits to internally displaced persons
Oleh Vasylyshyn at a working meeting with specialists regarding the construction of a sewage collector in the streets of Shchyrets (Ukrainian-German NAKOPA project)
Oleh Vasylyshyn at a working meeting with specialists regarding the construction of a sewage collector in the streets of Shchyrets (Ukrainian-German NAKOPA project)
Oleh Vasylyshyn inspecting the landscaping works in the territory of the Shchyrets Lyceum named after the Hero of Ukraine Bohdan Ilkiv (installation of playground facilities) under the German project Kommunal Direkt from the Society for International Cooperation GIZ of the Federal Ministry of Economic Development and International Cooperation BMZ – 2023
Oleh Vasylyshyn inspecting the landscaping works in the territory of the Shchyrets Lyceum named after the Hero of Ukraine Bohdan Ilkiv (installation of playground facilities) under the German project Kommunal Direkt from the Society for International Cooperation GIZ of the Federal Ministry of Economic Development and International Cooperation BMZ – 2023
Playground arranged
Playground arranged
Landscaping works in the Community
Landscaping works in the Community Source

Development Strategy

The Community created a working group to develop the Community Development Strategy until 2027. The following sections have been drafted: analytical part, SWOT analysis, community development scenarios, strategic vision of community development, strategic operational goals and objectives.

A meeting of the working group aimed at drafting the Community Development Strategy
A meeting of the working group aimed at drafting the Community Development Strategy

List of Sources

  • Photos by Iryna Mykytka
  • Website of the Shchyrets Community
If you want to contact an Ukrainian community or have additional questions regarding the project please contact us: [email protected]