Yurivka Territorial Community

History 

The Yurivka territorial community is the legal successor of most of the Yurivka district, which was born twice: first time – after the administrative reform in 1923 and the second time – in October 1991 according to the relevant resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. However, history shows that most of the current population centers arose in the early 1770s, when the Cossacks of the ruined Zaporizhzhia Sich went to the steppes.

The first settlers were engaged in agriculture and livestock breeding, beekeeping, and fishing. The land reform of 1861 and the laying of the Lozova-Pavlohrad and Lozova-Kostiantynohrad railways in the district gave a special impetus to the development of the area.

There are two objects of the nature reserve fund on the territory of the community: the ornithological “Voloshanska Dacha” and the botanical “Balka Vodiana”.

The Church of the Transfiguration, built in 1814, is also an interesting site, which is protected as the cultural (architectural) heritage of local importance. There are also 154 monuments of archeology – kurgans (burial mounds), which are an integral element of the landscape of both Dnipropetrovsk region and the Yurivka community.

In addition to individual mounds, there are mound groups. Therefore, the number of barrows is 397 units, including internal complexes. They are located almost throughout the entire territory of the community.

Economy and Welfare

The community is located in the steppe natural zone of Ukraine; therefore, the agricultural sector plays a significant role in the community’s development and constitutes its budget-generating branch.

In terms of ownership rights, agricultural enterprises vary:

– private enterprises – 2 units;

– farming enterprises – 87 units;

– state-owned enterprises – 1 unit;

– enterprises of other forms of ownership and management – 18 units;

The total area of agricultural lands of the Yurivka settlement council is 67.7 thousand ha. There are 5,147 small personal peasant farms on the territory of the community. Most of the land is leased by agricultural enterprises that use modern equipment and technologies.

Crop farming is most common specialization of agricultural holdings in the community.

The main products of the community’s agricultural enterprises are grain, sunflower, and fodder crops, vegetables and fruits.

Pigs, cows, and poultry are kept in individual farms, but on a larger scale, only four farming enterprises of the community engage in animal husbandry. The main focus is on pig breeding and one farm keeps cows for milk production.

There are three grain storage enterprises and two farms that have warehouses for storing vegetable and horticulture products.

As of today, the project of reconstruction of the transshipment complex on the territory of the Yurivka territorial community of the Pavlohrad district, Dnipropetrovsk region has been implemented with the own funds of “PAVLOHRADZERNOPRODUKT” and “TANDEM-AGRO”. The goal of the project is to enable export of own and customer grain agricultural products through the country’s ports to the international grain market, or in other words “field – railway – port”.

The community has an actively developed network of communal institutions and facilities for education, health care, culture, sports, social, transport, administrative and other services.

The network of health care facilities of the community includes “Yurivka Hospital” and “Yurivka Primary Medical Care Center”, which includes 4 rural medical outpatient clinics and 7 paramedic stations.

Community preschool education is provided by 7 kindergartens, 2 preschool units in branches of the Yurivka Lyceum and 1 preschool unit in the Preobrazhenka primary school. In total, 276 children receive preschool education in the community.

The network of institutions of general secondary education consists of 8 institutions of general secondary education, including: 5 lyceums, 2 gymnasiums, 1 primary school and 3 branches of lyceums.

The community also has the Yurivka children’s and youth sports school whose purpose and main task is to preserve the network of sports groups, identify and support young talents, help acquire skills and abilities to participate in competitions and obtain high results in the conditions of competitions, ensure the development of skills and prepare athletes for the reserve sports, and promote a healthy lifestyle. The school has opened 12 sections (football and volleyball) enrolling 174 pupils.

In the Yurivka community, 12 club institutions, the Yurivka public library, which includes 10 branches and 3 library points, and the communal after-school educational institution “Yurivka Art School” provide the population with services of cultural and spiritual sphere.

The community has a project called “Social Bus”, under which social buses run two routes every week to transport special categories of citizens free of charge to the central estate and back.

Community and War

From the first days of the war, the residents of the Yurivka community stood up to protect their Motherland from russian aggression. Today, more than 300 men defend Ukraine in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To date, 34 soldiers from the community have died, 23 are considered missing, and more than 20 are seriously injured.

The Yurivka territorial community has been actively supporting the military, demonstrating its dedication and cohesion in the struggle for independence. Helping the military has become one of the main directions of the community’s work.

Permanent humanitarian aid collection points for the military have been organized in the community. Local residents bring home preserves, warm clothing, medicines, hygiene products and make energy bars and other long-term storage products.

Women and children of the community actively participate in the production of camouflage nets for the military and the preparation of delicacies. Workshops are organized in schools and cultural centers where they weave nets that help defenders on the front lines. In addition, the community makes trench candles that provide heat and light for soldiers in the field.

Local entrepreneurs and farmers actively help financially. They direct part of the earned funds to military needs. The community also purchases tactical equipment, military uniforms, and protective devices and equipment, which are transferred to the front.

The farmers of the community give cars and tractors that have been modernized for the needs of the military.

During the entire period of russian military aggression and terror in Ukraine, starting from the first days of the war, the Yurivka settlement council accepted for temporary residence 2,195 internally displaced persons from the territories of 11 regions of Ukraine, where military operations were or are being conducted and there is a threat to people’s lives.

The Humanitarian Coordination Center of the Yurivka Settlement Council operates on the territory of the Yurivka community, thanks to which the priority material issues of internally displaced persons are resolved. Food, hygiene products, clothing, and footwear that arrive at the aforementioned center are evenly distributed among all internally displaced persons of the Yurivka community. Employees of social protection, education, culture, and healthcare institutions are involved in its activities.

People of the Community

Yurivka Settlement Head Ivan Buriak was first elected to the post in 2017 and then re-elected in 2021. He has been a permanent Settlement Head since the establishment of the Yurivka Territorial Community.

He takes an active position in community development, focusing on improving infrastructure, supporting agriculture and improving the quality of life of local residents. He is actively working on attracting investments and implementing projects aimed at the socio-economic development of the community.

Development Strategy

In order to preserve natural resources, improve the quality of the environment and raise the level of environmental awareness of residents, the Yurivka Village Council has developed:

• A strategy of environmental security and adaptation to climate change of the Yurivka territorial community until 2030.
• A municipal energy plan of the Yurivka territorial community until 2030.

Currently, the development of the Program for the comprehensive restoration of the territory of the Yurivka Territorial Community is in progress, which is a critically important stage in ensuring sustainable development of the community and improving the quality of life of its residents. When developing the Program, both the consequences of the war and the long-term needs of the community are being taken into account.

The main tasks of local authorities include:

• increasing the energy efficiency of the community: installation of solar power plants on buildings/or adjacent territories to provide an alternative source of energy with systems for its accumulation;
• introduction on the territory of the community of enterprises (lines) for the production of bioenergy fuel (granules, pellets) from agricultural production materials (hay, straw, corn stalks, sunflower stalks, sunflower husks, as well as plants specially grown for this purpose (energy forests, energy groves);
• providing the population of the community with drinking water;
• repair and maintenance of communal roads;

• thermal modernization of community educational institutions;

• assistance to low-income segments of the population, military personnel, veterans, people with disabilities, support of public initiatives.

List of Sources

• Official website of the Yurivka Settlement Territorial Community
• Official Facebook page of the Yurivka Settlement Territorial Community
• Business card of the Yurivka Settlement Territorial Community