The Sumy Oblast State Administration approved the conclusion on conforming the draft decision on voluntary amalgamation of the Stara Ivanivka village council in Okhtyrka rayon to the Okhtyrska urban hromada.

This was announced by Oleksandr Khoruzhenko, Director of the Sumy Local Government Development Centre.

"The process of voluntary amalgamation of the Stara Ivanivka village council to the Okhtyrska urban hromada began in late July of the current year, when the residents of Stara Ivanivka and another five villages, which make the local hromada, gave their consent to the integration with the city. A week later, deputies of the Okhtyrka City Council at session supported this accession, which found its reflection in the decision taken by the head of the Sumy Oblast State Administration. The final decision on establishing the amalgamated hromada will be adopted simultaneously at the sessions of both hromadas next week, ” Khoruzhenko said .

Thus, the Okhtyrska urban AH will become the fourth one in the Sumy Oblast established around the city ​​of oblast significance. Previously, in the Sumy Oblast similar AHs were created with centres in Sumy, Konotop and Shostka.

In total, today there are 37 amalgamated hromadas in the Sumy Oblast created on the basis of voluntary amalgamation in 2016-2019.