The Mykolayivska urban AH, located in the Sloviansk Rayon of the Donetsk Oblast, was established two years ago. The journalists decided to find out how the hromada is developing and what has been achieved for these years, during their press trip called “Mykolayivska Hromada: Achievement of the Reform in the urban AH”. The organizer of the event is the Donetsk Local Government Development Centre established with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme and MinRegion.

Hromada cares about security

The Citizens' Safety Centre in the Mykolayivska AH was opened in January last year. The new building was not erected here, but the sum of almost UAH 7 million from the oblast budget was allocated to majorly renovate and equip with the old fire station. According to local authorities, such an approach, that is an assistance to the fire and rescue team, is more balanced and economically justified. The new equipment appeared here thanks to the support of the State Emergency Service. The budget of the hromada allocated UAH 60 thousand for branded clothes for rescuers.

In total, the Security Centre employs 44 people, among whom 10 firefighters are guarded. Last year, 109 fires were liquidated. The Centre is serving the territory of all AH’s settlements, as well as the Slaviansk TPP, said Oleksandr Mysiaylo, deputy head of the fire team. In winter, we helped to take cars from snow blockages, but public utilities in the hromada work qualitatively, so there were only three such calls, say rescuers.

 

 

 

"The amalgamated hromadas themselves choose the format of the Security Centre, that is building of a modular construction, or reinforcing and re-equipping an old fire station," commented Maksym Tkach, advisor on decentralisation of the Donetsk LGDC. “The Mykolayivska and Siverska AHs decided to majorly repair their fire stations"

Modern classes are in warm school

The school in the village of Ray-Oleksandrivka has already wintered with a new "clothes" - the thermo-modernisation of the building was made for the money of the State Fund for Regional Development within co-financing from the local budget. According to Nataliia Hakova, director of the village school, it has become much warmer with new windows, doors, insulated walls and modern equipment at the boiler house, and less money is being spent now. As a result, what was paid for heat for one month is enough now for the entire heating season.

 

 

The local school is visited by 70 students, 10 of them travel from Mykolayivka by bus.

In 2018, the Mykolayivska AH purchased two buses - one for a social route and transportation of residents from the surrounding villages to the Administrative Services Centre and the Social Office, and the other is the school one. From the new school year, children will be transported here, including the route to the Ray-Oleksandrivska school, tells Olena Ufatova, manager of the executive committee's affairs.

 

 

Transparent social office and complex of administrative services

The first in the Donetsk Oblast transparent social office appeared exactly in the Mykolayivska AH. It was opened in summer last year. The reconstruction of a non-residential administrative building was carried out with the support of UNDP, and equipment was procured within the framework of the project from the Ministry of Social Policy.

There are 9 thousand recipients of benefits and state aid on the territory of the Mykolayivska AH. Earlier people traveled to Sloviansk, rayon centre. The opening of the Social Office and the Administrative Services Centre was extremely important for the amalgamated hromada.

The arrangement of the territory continues – playgrounds are being set up, shrubs and trees are being planted, planning and zoning are in process of completion.

 

 

Since mid-December last year, the process of issuing internal passports in the form of ID-cards and foreign passports started at the ASC. The journalists showed how the whole procedure goes through, beginning from the receipt of the coupon in the electronic queue. In less than six months, at the Mykolayivka ASC 900 passports were registered and issued, and only a third of them is internal, and the rest ones are foreign. The service is used by residents from all settlements of the Mykolayivska AH. Due to the lack of huge queues to receive foreign passports, many people from Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and even Kharkiv go to Mykolayivka.

Sports pride of Mykolayivska hromada

Last summer, the sports complex “Energetyk” was opened in the Mykolayivska hromada. The value of its construction makes UAH 58 million funded by Donbasenergo. The Sloviansk TPP, structural unit of Donbassenergo, is the only local budget-making enterprise. Yuliia Tryfonova, Director of “Energetyk”, showed journalists modern fitness and sports gyms, a gym for fighting and other specialized premises of the sports complex. The true pride is a swimming pool where regional teams are trained before their competitions. In the sports complex there are meetings before the championships of Ukraine on various sports, as well as the championships of the oblast level. On the territory of Mykolayivka, there is a hotel where sportsmen from other cities can live.

 

Reform provided resources and opportunities for development

The journalists had the opportunity to speak with Olena Tsykunova, head of the Mykolayivska AH.

“When the hromada amalgamated, we did not even expect to receive so many benefits from decentralisation," said Olena Tsykunova. “The Mykolayivska AH amalgamated a city with 10 surrounding villages from the Ray-Oleksandrivka and Malinivka village councils. The total number of population was slightly more than 17 thousand people. If earlier the local budget was UAH 15 million, now it has reached UAH 130 million, along with subventions and state budget subsidies. The hromada began to repair roads, insolate schools, it also prepared a big package of development projects for the Mykolayivska AH in cooperation with the Sloviansk TPP.”

 

 

Olena Tsykunova is convinced that the reform of decentralisation and the transfer of powers from the state to the local level are primarily aimed at improving the quality of life in the hromada, improving services. The Mykolayivska hromada has got the resources and opportunities, which it leads to the implementation of projects.

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