Tulchyn Territorial Community

History

The first mentions of Tulchyn date back to 1607. It is known Tulchyn was a trade center of Podillia that in the 17th century. During the years of its existence, due to historical events, Tulchyn was in the power of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire. All this had an effect on the culture and architectural motifs of the town.

There are palaces, estates, architectural monuments within the community. Such cultural heritage creates sufficient potential for the development of excursion tourism.

Undoubtedly, the Potocki Palace – the largest palace in Ukraine – is the No. 1 landmark and gem of the community. The palace ensemble was built by order of the Potocki family.

Today, the right-hand building of the palace houses the Tulchyn Vocational College of Culture.

OperaFest Tulchyn, an international open-air opera festival, is also held on the premises of the Palace. The event has taken place every year in early June since 2017.

The development of creative industries is also an additional mechanism for attracting investment for the community. The holding of the big festival, OperaFest Tulchyn, became the impetus for the renewal of Tulchyn and the beginning of the restoration of the Palace. In early 2022, the architectural monument was partially restored, but the other part still needs restoration.

The Potocki Small Palace was built at the end of the 18th century. The building is known as the military hospital and barracks in Tulchyn. Currently, the Tulchyn Professional College of Veterinary Medicine is located on its premises.

Another landmark is the Gliklich house, built by the town’s richest merchant, Rosenfeld, for his daughter Yulia in 1910. The girl soon married merchant Gliklich. Today, the administrative premises of the Tulchyn Town Council are located here.

The Dominican Church – today the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ – is a miniature copy of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, built during 1786-1817.

One of the community’s oldest buildings is the Church of St. Stanislav, as its first structure dates back to the 16th century. Today, the church is an architectural monument and continues to function as intended.

The Mykola Leontovych Apartment Museum, founded in 1977, is located in the community. Mykola Leontovych is a Ukrainian composer, the author of the legendary melody Schedryk (Carol of the Bells), which became a symbol of Christmas all over the world. Excursions and creative evenings are held in the museum.

The community can also boast of the oldest museum in the Vinnytsia region.  It was founded in 1927. The museum’s main collection includes more than 16,000 exhibits which represent the nature, history, ethnography, and art of the Tulchyn area.

Economy and Welfare

The community holds large-scale festivals and has enterprises with a world name. All this creates the basis for the development of industrial and festival tourism.

The Tulchyn Cheese Factory was founded in 1927. Currently, the enterprise produces more than 20% of all butter and vegetable-cream mixtures on the market of Ukraine. The factory’s products are exported to more than 65 countries.

The community enterprise, TulchynMeat, was founded in 1937. Today, it is a powerful producer of beef in Ukraine. Annual production exceeds 5,000 tons of sausage products and 1,400 tons of meat. In total, the enterprise produces more than 300 types of sausages, knackwursts, frankfurters, smoked meats, and other meat products. The plant exports its products to more than 10 countries.

Residents of the Tulchyn community are proud of the international open-air opera festival, OperaFestTulchyn, which is held annually on the premises of the Potocki Palace in Tulchyn. In 2019, the festival gathered 68,000 guests! It was also started in order to draw attention to the condition of the monument and to collect funds for its rescue.

There are 15 lyceums, 9 gymnasiums and 1 primary school within the community where more than 4 thousand children study. There are also 9 institutions of preschool education and 7 institutions of general secondary education, which have switched to financial autonomy.

For the safety of children during martial law, the simplest shelters were set up in every education institution. The community also plans the reconstruction of the premises of the Shura-Kopiivska Lyceum.

Medical services for community residents are provided at the Tulchyn Central District Hospital, the primary health care center, and the dental polyclinic.

Mixed martial arts are developing here at a high level on the basis of the Hepard Sports Club.

This year in Abu Dhabi, the Champions won first place for Ukraine at the 2023 MMA World Mixed Martial Arts Championship!

Community and War

On February 24, 2022, the community woke up to a powerful explosion. At that moment, the lives of the residents were divided into “Before” and “After”. All Ukrainians united around one goal – a free and independent Ukraine.

From the first days of the war, residents of the community’s villages actively worked on the production of semi-finished products and food for the military. Ukraine’s largest producer and exporter of chicken provided almost 40 tons of poultry meat for processing in the villages of the community. Residents organized points for making canned meat which was handed over to the military in the hottest spots of Ukraine.

Before the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the community had been actively working to improve the quality of life of the residents. Despite the fact that no community infrastructure was damaged as a result of russia’s military aggression, important business processes were interrupted, internally displaced persons were received, community residents (military, volunteers) were killed or injured, and the revenue part of the budget decreased sharply, which puts at risk financing of community socio-economic development programs.

Due to the blocking of sea ports of Ukraine, the local oil factory cannot export its products to the countries of the Middle East, therefore, production volumes have been reduced. As a result, about 200 company employees lost their jobs. The implementation of the drainage project was suspended. The Schedryk project, which was supposed to be implemented in October 2022 for the 100th anniversary of the first performance of Shchedryk at Carnegie Hall, did not take place. The restoration of the Potocki Palace was also stopped.

All enterprises of the community were active. The Tulchyn butter and cheese factory, which is part of the TERRA FOOD company, did not stop its operations for a single day and continued to work for the sake of the country’s food security, because international producers of dairy products suspended their activity in Ukraine.

About 2,000 internally displaced persons currently live in hotels, sanatoriums and the private sector of the community. Many residents of the community, mostly women and children, left their homes and went abroad for security reasons, which caused deterioration in the level of economic activity in the community, an increase in unemployment and a drop in the standard of living.

Since the beginning of the full-scale aggression in February 2022, the community has lost a considerable number of its heroes who died during hostilities in Eastern and Southern Ukraine. Unfortunately, farewells to heroes have become common for the residents of the community.

Despite the war and all other challenges and problems, business is socially responsible here.

The assistance to the military from the agrarian business of the community is particularly noticeable. In addition to food products, it supplies the military with trucks and cars, military equipment, ammunition, etc.

In 2022, the community began cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). As a result, the community was given sets of vegetable seeds and about 15 tons of potato seeds.

The community took part in the project Strengthening communities for the sake of victory and revival of Ukraine, which is implemented by the public association, ANTS – National Interests Advocacy Network.  As part of the project, they approved the concept of reconstruction and sustainable economic development of the community, received 2 generators, and filmed a video about community investment projects for French partners.

Since the beginning of the war, more than 8,000 displaced people have passed through the Tulchyn community in transit. About 2,000 people have stayed for long-term residence. There are 6 active collective centers for displaced people in the community.

People of the Community

This cultural event of the international level prompted the community to implement a number of cultural projects. Thus, the community implemented the project Leontovych Art-Quarter aimed at the development of the creative economy.

Meridian Shchedryk became the continuation of the Leontovych Art Quarter project. Meridian Shchedryk stretched along the road from the Potocki Palace to the Tulchyn House of Culture. On this territory, an avenue of giant musical instruments unfolded which included forged models of saxophone, double bass, piano, guitar and accordion.

The final stage of the project was the festival From Shchedryk to Carol of the Bells.

On the initiative of the Mayor, the annual festival of the traditional Podil dish, Miracle from a jar – Tymanivka kasha, has been held in the community since 2019. There is a legend that housewives spied the recipe from the Cossacks 400 years ago. Tymanivka cooked cereal was included in the Vinnytsia regional list of elements of intangible cultural heritage.

The Mayor actively cooperates with European partner cities. Thanks to the negotiations in the town of Rottenbuch, Germany received a group of Tulchyn residents and displaced persons.

The support of the 4 German cities – Rottenbuch, Polling, Pehl, Bernried (Bavaria) which provided a fire truck for the Tulchyn rescuers was the most significant.

For the second time, the Bavarians replenished the material and technical base of the fire brigade with multifunctional cars and filled it with the necessary means for defenders.

Thanks to cooperation with Ukrainos centras in Vilnius, the community received a powerful generator for a preschool education institution from VDU Švietimo akademija. Three more generators, oil, lanterns and a heat gun were given to two lyceums and a kindergarten by Lithuanian partners Algirdas Kumža, Edmundas Jakilaitis from Stiprūs Kartu and Director Dr. Arūnas Gelūnas.

Thor tries to find resources to meet the needs of the military in response to each their request.e May

Newly renovated wards of the maternity department were recently opened.

An updated chess club for children and adults was also opened. On the initiative of the IT company BILLTECH, the premises were repaired and furniture and chess tables were purchased.

The mayor supported the Vidnova:UA project which was implemented by the youth council in the summer of 2023. 30 young people from all over the country restored the youth center in Tulchyn and made it comfortable.

Development Strategy

For effective community development, the Strategy until 2030 was approved. The community is gradually moving towards the implementation of plans.

In order to create conditions for increasing the competitiveness of the economy, attracting investments and developing entrepreneurship, work on the creation of an industrial park has begun. Today, a working group is working and a roadmap for the creation of the facility has already been developed.

For development of tourism and creative economy, the community signed a Memorandum of Cooperation and Partnership for the creation of an agro-tourism cluster, Routes of Trypillia Pramothera. The project is designed to help communities prepare tourist locations and develop routes to places where the ancient settlements of the Trypil people, their temples and the best museum collections are concentrated.

To increase the level of public safety and security, 36 anti-radiation shelters and 47 basic shelters were set up in the community. Also, fortifications were built and the Point of Invincibility was deployed.

Work is being carried out with displaced persons who are looking for a job. The community provides advice to businesses regarding the registration of state support payments for employed displaced people. A separate Telegram channel with vacancies was created in the community.

To support farmers in the community, the Products of My Community Fair is held every year. This year, the fair was organized as a charity event to support fellow soldiers.

Mass planting of trees is also arranged every year. For example, in April 2022, the first Victory Garden was planted. Entrepreneur Olena Muzhylivska provided the community with 300 apple seedlings and 100 rose bushes. So, in a few years, the apple orchard will bloom here!

It is planned to open a rehabilitation department in the community. The first steps have already been taken for this purpose. A multidisciplinary rehabilitation team is at the stage of forming, repair work is being carried out and equipment is being purchased. Partners from Germany also supported the establishment of the department and provided humanitarian aid: pallets with blankets, mattresses, ergonomic simulators for rehabilitation, wheelchairs, walking sticks and aids, bedside tables for patients, hospital beds with electronics.

A modern inclusive playground and a recreation area were opened on the premises of the rehabilitation center for children and youth with disabilities thanks to the project’s victory in the Tulchyn Town Council’s competition – Budget of Public Initiatives.

The Tulchyn community took 3rd place among the communities of the Vinnytsia region in the rating of institutional capacity and sustainable development of small and medium-sized communities of Ukraine. The rating takes into account 40 indicator criteria and reflects the investment attractiveness of communities.

List of Sources

• terrafood.ua
• tulchinmeat.com.ua