The Loknytska AHs was formed in 2016 with four village councils of the Zarichne Rayon. Geographically, it is located in the extreme north of the Rivne Oblast, next to Belarus. 14 villages had the worst financial indicators and the population of 5100 people. Immediately after amalgamation, the rayon council transferred educational, cultural, healthcare and library facilities to the newly established AH.

Petro Kharkovets, head of the AH, tells about changes over these two years.

There is a huge gap between village councils and AH

First of all, I would like to dispel one of the myths, that after amalgamation the employees of village councils lose their jobs. No one has lost a job in our hromada. Former heads became starostas. There are 13 people employed in our structure out of 23 available positions. That is, there are still vacancies.

Some people mistakenly think that amalgamation immediately brings various privileges, and villages become wealthy at once. It’s false. The head and his/her team cannot idle. It's a difficult but interesting work.

The budget has substantially increased

We have a basic subsidy, that is not available to village councils. It amounts to UAH 4 million 392. Educational subvention makes up UAH 14 million 870 thousand, healthcare one is UAH 3 million 709. We still have an additional subsidy to maintain school technical personnel and pay for communal services. It is not enough. And we provide additional funds from the local budget.

Own revenues have grown substantially at the expense of personal income tax (PIT). In total, our own revenues over the last year amounted to UAH four million, in contrast to three million planned, so we entered 2018 with balances on accounts.

The biggest bonus is an infrastructure subvention. We received UAH 4 million 244 thousand, implemented eight projects, and returned around forty thousand unused funds to the state.

School directors have become managers

We do not have an educational department. We established communal educational institutions and immediately entitled them with powers. They manage budget funds themselves. School directors are forced to become managers, study the budget, learn how to work with money, how to properly and economically manage them, register with Prozorro, make purchases, and so on.

Not a single healthcare centre has been closed

We have a primary healthcare centre. It has already received a license. By the end of the year we should conclude an agreement with the National Health Service.

We have not closed any of the medical facilities, since we are aware that at least one rural health post must be present in each of our villages. Previously, there were two outpatient clinics and 8rural health posts. Now we have three outpatient clinics, and one rural health post is being reorganised.

Hromada focuses of green tourism

I believe that green tourism can give a powerful impetus to the hromada. We have extremely beautiful nature, and the Nobel lakes are a pearl of the Zarichne Rayon and the oblast. We are working on attracting investors and already have our first successes.

There will always be those dissatisfied

It is clear that despite all the efforts of the leadership, they will always be those dissatisfied. They say, there are few achievements that are not visible. I have only one answer. If rural councils had remained – there would have been nothing of what we have already achieved. The indicators I mentioned are the best evidence to this.

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