Having amalgamated in the hromada, Holoby urban-type settlement and surrounding villages undertook projects and repairs for which they lacked human resources and funds for decades. 

Hromada

The Holobska amalgamated hromada was formed in October 2015. It consists of 23 settlements. Its population is over 8,000 residents.

 

 

Serhiy Harbaruk, head of the Holobska AH, says that before amalgamation the budget of all village councils amounted to 3 million hryvnias, now it is 55 million.

One of the priorities of the Holobska AH by 2026 is local economy and rural areas development. Serhiy Harbaruk says they are trying to attract investors in Holoby, although it’s a difficult task for a small settlement.

 

 

In 2019 the hromada is completing installation of street lighting in all settlements. The lion's share of the AH funds is spent on road repairs.

 

 

Serhiy Harbaruk worked as a physical education teacher at a local school for over 20 years. In 2010, he decided to try to run for settlement head. Since then he has been the head of the Holoby settlement and the head of the whole hromada after amalgamation:

“It is not easy to introduce something new and explain something to people who have walked the same paths for decades. Sometimes it is difficult to make strong-willed decisions. Sometimes these decisions confirm their correctness, and it is very pleasant.” 

Stadium

Since 2017, the Druzhba stadium in Holoby settlement has been renovated. This project is funded by the hromada and the State Fund for Regional Development.

 

In addition to the football field, the stadium has a race track and a multifunctional, artificial-surface playground to play basketball, volleyball and tennis. They also installed simulators and stands for spectators.

 

Culture Houses

In the first year after amalgamation, the AH renovated assembly hall of the local Culture House in Holoby. The reconstruction project was developed back in 2012, but until recently there were no funds for repairs.

 

Earlier there was a cinema. Removing cinema equipment from the premises, the hromada instead arranges summer outdoor movie sessions.

The village of Malyi Porsk was one of the first to join theHolobska AH. The village has undergone a major overhaul of the Culture House, which at that time had not been in operation for 13 years.

 

 

This Culture House hosts most local festivities and general gatherings. Amateur bands from other hromada settlements come here with performances.

Administrative and social services

 

The Administrative Service Centre (ASC) has been operating in the Holobska AH since March 2017. Here the locals receive various certificates, extracts and other documents under the one-stop shop principle.

 

 

The ASC building was reconstructed at the expense of the European Union and the hromada. AH head Serhiy Harbaruk says that ASC administrators conduct field visits. To do this, they have a specially equipped suitcase called a mobile ASC.

 

 

At the end of 2017, the Holobska AH created a Social Service Centre. It caters for over one hundred residents, mostly elderly people who need support.

Hub School and Library

 

 

After amalgamation, in 2016, a hub school for hromada pupils was created in Holoby. It has several branches in the villages. In total, over 700 children study here. A quarter of them are brought to the school by three school buses.

 

 

One of the features of this hub school is the photolaboratory created in the summer of 2017. The hromada provided funds to purchase equipment where pupils learn to take pictures and create graduation albums on their own. Tennis tables are set up in the hallways, so that schoolchildren can play ping pong at breaks.

 

 

The former premises of the kindergarten were transformed into a public library.

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