Czech Republic

In Ukraine, and especially in the historical Volhynia, there is a very rich cultural heritage of the Volhynian Czechs; they came in the middle of the 19th century, lived in both large cities and in rural areas, often compactly together in the so-called “colonies”, i.e. “Czech” villages. They were very active, enterprising people, had their own organizations and schools, many of them were successful entrepreneurs. Zdolbuniv cement plant was founded by the Elineck brothers and many people probably still associate the Volynian Czechs with the craft of brewing.

We want to revive the Czech heritage in Zdolbuniv, as well as in Rivne region in general, by promoting the Czech language and culture, communicating with organizations in the Czech Republic (schools, universities, NGO), attracting Czech volunteers (through the Erasmus Plus program) and, in general, creating the right climate of trust for Ukrainian-Czech cooperation, including investment projects.

As always, we believe in the power of youth exchanges and are now preparing various projects for 2022. We also want to raise the issue of the preservation of the Czech architectural heritage, as there are many traditional “Czech houses” in the villages, its brick quality still shows a rich cultural past and ask, as it seems to us, that they be used not only for historical research, but also for the implementation of the cultural and touristic strategical projects in the cities and villages, where those houses remained.