Tereshky Territorial Community

The M-03 Kyiv – Poltava – Kharkiv – Dovzhanskyi national highway and two railway branches going to Kremenchuk and Krasnohrad cross the territory of the Tereshky community.

History

At the beginning of the first millennium BC, nomadic tribes – the Scythians – lived in the Poltava area. The remains of a Scythian settlement were found between the villages of Zintsi and Mykilske. It belongs to the Early Iron Age and is one of the Scythian-Sarmatian sites. It is not known where the Scythians disappeared from the region, but for a long time after them these lands were not inhabited.

The village of Holovach is one of the oldest settlements in the Poltava Region as evidenced by the local residents’ discovery – the remains of unusual dishes discovered in the territory of the village in 1927. Archaeological research helped establish that Scythians once lived opposite Holovach, on a large island surrounded by the Vorskla on one side and its Holovach distributary on the other side.

Samples of decorated glazed dishes, various household items made of ceramics, bones (irons, scrapers) as well as clay and stone were found here. Stone throwing stones indicate that the people of that time lived mostly by hunting. The remains of the hearth were found in the dugouts near the walls: first a layer of sand with layering on top, and then clay plaster.

In 1927, when excavations were carried out near Holovach, many items and ornaments were found, taken during the excavation of graves, but household items and Scythian dwellings were also found. The archaeological discoveries near Holovach are unique: the household items of a great ancient people were found for the first time. The village of Lukyshchyna is located further upstream from Holovach, on the left bank of the Vorskla River.

The year 1691 can be considered as the founding period of the village, when Hetman Ivan Mazepa issued a decree permitting Poltava Colonel Fedir Zhuchenko “to receive as residents those wishing to move from other places.”

The village of Tereshky was first mentioned in historical documents of the 2nd quarter of the 17th century, in 1765-1769.

Today, the Tereshky Territorial Community is actively engaged in studying its rich history in order to preserve its unique local archaeological landmarks as landmarks of different eras are preserved in the territory of the community. The popularization of the historical past and the formation of the community’s identity should become an impetus to the community development.

Economy and Welfare

510 enterprises are registered in the territory of the Tereshky community. Almost 60% are individual entrepreneurs and the rest are legal entities, the largest of which include:

• UKRZALIZNYTSIA JSC and its local divisions. Main types of activities in the territory of the community: freight railway transportation (sorting), maintenance of railway transport and railway infrastructure.

• Oil and gas sector companies: extraction of crude oil, natural gas, their treatment and transportation.

• Poltava Forestry State Enterprise is rightfully considered one of the leading forestry enterprises in the region. The forest enterprise includes 19 forest farms, 2 lower warehouses and the Lisovychok trade hall.

Great attention is paid to education. Educational institutions should be accessible and safe. There should also be purposeful development of the material and technical resources of schools and kindergartens.

A network of educational institutions operates in the territory of the community, including two main educational institutions – the Tereshky Lyceum and the Holovach municipal institution of general secondary education and four of their branches, three preschool education institutions. 

At the Tereshky Lyceum, a new office of social disciplines was opened as well as a modern computer science room equipped with state-of-the-art computer equipment. Early this year, a physics room was opened at the Tereshky Lyceum upon being refurbished and equipped with modern specialized educational equipment – a microscope, a telescope, interactive visual models, a digital laboratory “Einstein”, which makes it possible to conduct various studies and observe the starry sky in real time as a result of connection to telescopes in different countries of the world.

In addition, as part of the Ukraine Restoration Program, the community will receive funds from the European Investment Bank for the implementation of the Tereshky Lyceum Reconstruction project consisting in thermal modernization of the entire building.

Thanks to the municipal institution “Centre for Children’s and Youth Creativity”, the community has a well-developed network of extracurricular education, which is represented by group work in various areas. Now there are 11 groups for children, and their number is constantly growing.

The Inclusive Resource Centre municipal institution was created for children with special educational needs.

A wood chipper was recently purchased using the local public funds. This is an extremely necessary device because with the help of a branch shredder one can usefully dispose of excess branches, which make up a large part of the garbage that needs to be disposed of. After all, the community is progressing towards energy independence: the Tereshky rural council and starosta-headed districts use solid fuel for heating.

As part of the New Village project, Ukrgazvydobuvannia Joint-Stock Company financed the purchase of containers for the separate collection of household waste in the community.

The implementation of the School Public Budget project of the Tereshky Rural Council is currently in an active phase; it is financed by a grant within the framework of the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE project – “Decentralization for Improved Democratic Education” and co-financed by the community (the total cost of the project is UAH 780,000).

It should be noted that, apart for ordinary initiatives, the community plans to implement two more projects:

• creation of an industrial park. For this purpose, the community has all the necessary components: logistical and energy availability, suitable land and territory, an open and communicative local government.
• implementation of the Concept of comprehensive development of recreational waterfront areas of the Vorskla River within the territory of the Tereshke community, which provides for a beach-recreational zone, a public development zone (food courts, cafeterias, hotels and SPA), an active recreation zone “Beaver Island” and a landscape-recreational zone (an arboretum), an active recreation area with the possible installation of a water park.

Community and War

On April 15, a russian rocket exploded in the territory of a farm in the Tereshky community. One person died and another was injured as a result of the shelling.

The Tereshky Rural Territorial Community in the Poltava District of the Poltava Region began to host internally displaced persons from other regions of Ukraine in the first days of the war. In late December, the number of officially registered internally displaced persons in the community amounted to more than 1,800 people who arrived from the Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk Regions, accounting for over 15% of the total number of the community’s own population.

As regards humanitarian issues, the community actively cooperates with the Red Cross Foundation, the Caritas Ukraine Charitable Foundation, and many other charitable organizations.

However, the community was not spared by the war. Eight residents of the community died in heavy fighting with the aggressor.

The community tries to constantly support the soldiers who continue to defend our land and has repeatedly organized and continues to organize events in support of the Armed Forces: sports competitions, concerts, charity events, etc.

The Glory to Our Defenders charity event was held at the Tereshky Lyceum on the occasion of the Defender of Ukraine Day. During the event, master classes dedicated to baking ginger cookies and making patriotic charms were held for the lyceum employees.

People of the Community

The head of the Tereshky community, Vitalii Petrovych Turpitko, was born in the village of Kopyly. He ran a general family medicine practice outpatient centre then joined the army in August 2014.

After the army, he served as a counsellor of the district council. Vitalii Turpitko is also the Chairman of the Nongovernmental Union “Coordination Council of Nongovernmental Organizations of ATO Veterans” bringing together 16 organizations of Poltava area veterans.

In 2020, Vitalii Turpitko was largely supported by the community residents and was elected the head of the rural council.

The community is proud of its Patriot Club focused on the younger generation military and patriotic education, which is one of the best similar organizations in the region, is equipped at a modern level and has been a winner of many contests and competitions.

Development Strategy

The territory of the community is rich in natural resources recorded in the Emerald Network, making it tourist-attractive and at the same time imposing an obligation to adhere to the principles of powerful development in all the spheres of life.

Strengths of the community:

– Logistic opportunities (territorial border with a city of regional importance; two railway branches, highways of state and regional importance);

– Existence of a powerful industrial hub (BK KVP LLC, TSREKM branch of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC);

– Availability of territories for tourism development (unique recreational zone: three rivers; forests, lakes);

– Blaho Municipal Enterprise was created; one of its objectives is to increase energy efficiency and energy independence of the community;

– Availability of flat terrain agricultural land;

– Social responsibility of businesses (participation of businesses in solving local problems, special participation of local farmers);

– Territorial accessibility of cultural institutions and social infrastructure of the regional centre, the possibility of involving human resources of the regional centre;

– Presence of artistic and amateur teams that popularize the local cultural heritage;

– Territories and facilities attractive to investors – premises of former social infrastructure institutions (Suputnyk children’s camp), concepts of investment sites (industrial park, embankment, tourist routes and riverside park, for the implementation of which Riverside Park ME was created);

– Mineral deposits (gas, peat, sand, water resources with a unique chemical composition);

– Constructive, effective and progressive local authorities.

The Tereshky Territorial Community Development Strategy from 2022 to 2027 and the Education Development Strategy are being developed with the support of the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE project – “Decentralization for Improved Democratic Education”, which determine the main prospective areas of the community development:

1. Creation of a strong and cohesive community with an effective management system.
2. Formation of a pole of economic growth near the city of Poltava.
3. Development and preservation of natural resources as a unique advantage of the community.
4. Human potential formation and development.

List of Sources

• Executive Committee of the Tereshky Rural Council
• tereshkivska.gromada.org.ua
• poltava.to 
• upravles.gov.ua 
• beton.pl.ua 
• Photo by Volodymyr Abramov
• histpol.pl.ua