The residents of the Veselivska AH never hesitate to be active, to propose cooperation to other parties and to implement pilot projects. They have utilized a closed landfill to build a solar power plant. Vesele has also opened the administrative service centre that was modernised with the assistance of Swedish experts. The Veselivska AH operates the first mobile waste sorting line in Ukraine that was purchased a while ago. Local schoolchildren can grow vegetables in the school’s greenhouses, learn municipal management using table games and produce their own contributions for the local radio station. This and more you can see in the video presented by Ukraїner.

 

Hromada

 

The Veselivska rural amalgamated hromada (AH) was established in autumn 2015. It was united based on the urban-type settlement of Vesele located in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, 48 km away from the city of Melitopol.

During 3 years after hromada’s establishment, its budget increased 3-fold: from UAH 25 million in 2015 to above UAH 80 million in 2018. The main revenues are received from personal income taxes, local taxes and single taxes.

 

 

LLC "KhiAT", an enterprise producing aircrafts and training future pilots from around the world, is located at the territory of the AH, in the village of Shyroke. The entrepreneur Vasyl Kiryeyev created the company “Avoz Avto Atelier” in Vesele, which deals with hand assembling of replicas of famous models of the British automotive industry of the 1950s - Lotus Super Seven and Shelby Cobra.

Petro Kiyashko, head of the Veselivska hromada, says that the strategic plan for hromada development in Vesele began to be created in 2014. The hromada has now a plan developed by 2025. Among the priorities there is the development of small businesses.

 

The Veselivska hromada plans to create opportunities for business in the field of agriculture. The factory producing skimmed milk powder is working in Vesele and it is planned to be extended. In the village of Novooleksandrivka, it will be a drop irrigation system to grow vegetables and berries. In the centre of Vesele, the refrigeration equipment will be installed, and the market for agrarian products will be made. Thus, the hromada seeks to create more jobs and increase the income of peasants.

 

 

The Veselivska AH, in addition to the village of Vesele, includes 7 more villages. In total, it is more than 13,000 residents. The head of the hromada Petro Kiyashko says that after the amalgamation there are funds to spend on gas, street lighting and water for villages in need of it, as well as to repair and equip schools.

 

 

“Our task is to convince people that we must start with ourselves. Let everyone mow the weed near the yard, let the fence be painted, and if it is possible – be replaced. And make the order further. Let everyone get up early and work. We need specialists here. Ukrainians can sit down and think what they need to get a job and start working.”

 

 

Own mini-factories

The Veselivska hromada has created a utility company, which manufactures asphalt concrete mixture for repairing roads and pavement tiles. The company works for the needs of the hromada and it is one of the sources for filling the local budget. Petro Kiyashko says that the company has been operating since 2018, and during this time, the workers have already finished with patchwork repair of 60 km of roads. In the future, roads in the villages around the hromada are planned to be repaired.

 

 

Solar power plant

In March 2018, the Solar Park Vesele, solar power plant, started working in the village of Vesele. It was built on the territory of a large landfill abandoned since the 1990s. Petro Kiyashko said that preparing a land for this project was not easy, but assistance in solving bureaucratic issues was critically important for the investor of the Solar Park Podgorodnye LLC.

 

 

The plant with capacity of 16 MW has 800 fixed tables, each of them has 72 panels. The head of the Veselivska SPP Serhii Yudin says that during the year the station has been working at full capacity.

“We send all the energy we generate to the energy market of Ukraine. There, at the substation, it is already distributed. There are over twenty people here. They are specially trained energy engineers who must have experience of work at the substation. One can also find such specialists among the residents of Vesele, they work here by shifts. If there were more such power plants all over Ukraine, this would be a success for our country.”

 

 

Sorting line

This year, the first in Ukraine mobile line for the sorting of solid waste began to work in the Veselivska hromada. The station, the equipment of which is placed in a caravan, has been purchased for the state subvention and grants. With this station, the hromada wants to sort waste from local landfills and spill dumps.

 

 

Oleksandr Zhadan, director of the Arus company, says that the mobile line is easy to use and is designed for six employees. The sorted plastic, glass and metal are then pressed and handed over for recycling.

 

 

Greenhouses at school

In the Veselivska school No. 1, which has a biotechnological profile, two greenhouses have been appeared since 2016. The vegetables grown by pupils in the greenhouses under the supervision of masters are moved to the kitchen of the school canteen, and flowers are aimed to decorate the school and other public places of the village.

 

 

Students from secondary and high school are working in the greenhouses (during their lessons of labour training and special after-classes). Younger pupils visit the greenhouses during the excursions.

 

 

Administrative services

In February 2018, a modern Administrative Service Centre rendering serves for the entire rayon (22,000 people - ed.) was opened in Vesele. The U-LEAD with Europe Programme has provided assistance in modernising the Center. Tetiana Ovdiyenko, ASC’s director, says that there had been 4 specialists rendered 30 services before re-equipment, and now the Centre is currently employing 12 specialists and providing 111 services.

 

 

Such popular services as registration of a living place, extract from the State Land Cadastre may be got at the Centre during 10-15 minutes. The ASC has a special place for visitors, a bank terminal, as well as there is an access to Internet banking.

 

 

Library, radio and youth hub

The Veselivska hromada has a central library for adults and a library for children, as well as five rural library branches.

 

 

From the spring of 2018, the hromada radio "Freestyle FM" is broadcast on radio “Promin” frequency for 4 hours every day.

 

 

There is also a youth hub "PLATFORMA", equipped with furniture, computer, multimedia whiteboard and flipchart for educational and entertainment activities, in the central library. An employee of hub Anastasia Karpenkova says that the youth is gathering to play games, watch films, and learn something new here.

 

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