Over the past four years, the Pyriatyn municipality has implemented several large-scale projects in various directions, from education to utility services, culture and social sphere. At the experience exchange event “Tools for Attracting Additional Resources for Municipal Development” for heads of municipalities in the oblast, which was organised by the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Poltava Oblast, Andrii Simonov, Mayor of Pyriatyn, told his colleagues about the success cases involving extra-budgetary grant funds and organisational and technological approaches to the investment attraction process:
“My main priority is to attract investments. I personally coordinate the work of the team assigned to the projects and programmes of international technical assistance and determine the directions of their development. In less than four years of work, we managed to direct a million euros to the agricultural sector of the economy, dairy and berry clusters; about half a million euros went towards the environment, specifically solid waste management. These are the largest grant-funded projects. There are many great, important social initiatives for the residents of the municipality implemented thanks to co-financing through participation in projects. We are glad to share this experience so that municipalities develop for the benefit of the people, of Ukraine.”
One of the largest projects was “Development of Value-Added Chains in the Dairy and Berry Clusters of the Pyriatyn Municipality to Expand the Economic Opportunities of Youth and Rural Residents and Ensure Eco-Oriented Growth”, worth about EUR 1,200,000. As part of the project, art sewing and culinary co-working spaces with modern equipment were created in the local Lyceum No. 6. The long-term outcomes of the project will include the increase in local employment rates and the introduction of an environmental component in food production.
Note that the Pyriatyn municipality successfully uses the approach of combining various possibilities to achieve the goal and move toward the desired objective in small steps. A great example of that is the creation of KOLOMOLODI, a youth space. It was made possible thanks to the implementation of two projects at once. The premises were renovated jointly with the Programme of Involvement of Youth in the Reconstruction of Ukraine VIDNOVA:UA. While the furnishing and equipment for the space with furniture were provided with the support of the International Organisation for Migration.
Thanks to the support of the UNICEF Children’s Fund, a daycare for children with disabilities was created in Pyriatyn in the former Prolisok Kindergarten. Equipment for adaptive, sensory and multifunctional play rooms was purchased for the daycare as part of the project “Spilno. Social Services”.
Another large-scale project with many components was addressing the load on the landfills in Pyriatyn and three other neighbouring municipalities. Thanks to the international technical assistance project “Supporting the Export Initiative for Environmental Technologies” by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), a local utility company, EkoService-2022, purchased a modern sorting line, a special vehicle, a press, a loader, containers for separate waste collection and now sorts plastic, paper and glass. Last year alone, almost 70 tonnes of waste were sorted here for secondary processing, and already 90 tonnes were sorted in the first half of 2024. During the time of its operation, the company earned about UAH 900,000.
The implementation of these projects cost several millions, which were not spent from the municipal budget. After all, budgetary priorities are different in wartime. Funds for development and social projects were received from donors. This was facilitated by a strategic vision of problems and solutions, as well as by always seeking new opportunities.
“The experience of the Pyriatyn municipality shows that the attraction of extra-budgetary funds as a development tool works well where there is a clear vision of solving problematic issues and the willingness of the management team to invest their time, efforts and organisation in changes,” Iryna Balybina, Head of the local Regional Office of U-LEAD, said at the end of the event.
