Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

The Novomiska Amalgamated Territorial Community is an example of fantastic results even with modest opportunities.
Today the #AASuccessStories section is about Ukrainian “COWBOYKY” - Western Ukrainian ethnic group of boyky, who’ve decided to become cowboys and change the lives of people throughout the region.

#AASuccessStories is a column about Ukrainians, who benefit from the Association Agreement with the EU and enjoy opportunities for cooperation with the European Union.

Nove Misto is a small village in Lviv region, with a population of less than a thousand people. In 2015 it became the center of the Novomiska amalgamanted territorial community, amalgamating Bolozivska, Hrushatytska, Konivska and Novomiska village councils. Today the community is a home to about six thousand people and it has already become known throughout the region, thanks to the idea to turn ordinary border villages into a tourist cluster that would combine the culture of boyky and cowboys. The project “Cowboyky: Ukrainian Wild West” is implemented under the support of the EU initiative “Mayors for Economic Growth”. For its implementation, the EU has allocated a grant of 900 thousand euros.

Today “COWBOYKY” is a registered trademark, as well as a tourist center. Not only residents of four villages of Novomiska community, but also people from 14 neighbouring settlements take part in the development of the project. “Cowboyky: Ukrainian Wild West” has the ambitious plans to attract tourists from all over the country and even from neighbouring ones.

With the assistance of the EU “COWBOYKY” project helps locals to open and run their own businesses to make their common initiative attractive to the visitors. A dairy “Milk Ranch” currently operates in the community. It organizes excursions and quests for the guests. At the cheese factory you can see how cheese is made, as well as take part in “gold” mining. The owner of the cheese factory, farmer Vasyl Medvedyukh, says that he studied cheese-making in Kyiv and also gained experience at the cheese factories in Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia and Lviv regions. He repaired the premises where the cheese factory is located at his own expense. With European funds he bought the equipment — a cooler, a pasteurizer and cans. From the very beginning it was a family business. The farmer's wife and children work on the farm. Now as the production is expanding, three employees have been hired. The range of cheese is small at the moment— it's cottage cheese, butter and cream. But the “Milk Ranch” plans to start production of the cheese, cheeses with herbs and mozzarella soon.

The greenhouse farm “Strawberry Hills” also operates on the territory of “COWBOYKY” tourist cluster. Its owner Svitlana says that before starting this small business, she had worked as a civil servant and even had went abroad to earn money. Everything changed when she studied at a local school of economic development. The school was also created with the assistance of the EU, within the project “Cowboyky: Ukrainian Wild West”. Now “Strawberry Hills” includes three greenhouses in which Svitlana with her husband and kids grow four varieties of Italian strawberries. During the season, visitors can not just buy strawberries, but also pick the one they like best. And in the off-season, Svitlana’s family makes pastilles - sweets made from dried fruit or berry puree.

The school of local economic development was opened under the project in June last year. Here, locals can take courses for entrepreneurs, as well as specialized courses for craft businesses. With the help of the school, the community hopes to keep young people from earning money abroad and encourage them to start their own small businesses in the community.

Ukrainian cowboys are not going to stop. The community plans to build a modern hotel for a large number of tourists and equip in a cowboy-style train route that will take guests to “COWBOYKY”. The community believes, that the secret of their success is that they managed to turn disadvantages of the region - its remoteness from major roads and the regional center, lack of historical monuments, poor condition of roads and other infrastructure, - into advantages. They believe that the idea of the American Wild West period is perfect for creating a unique tourism product and combining it with the local boyky culture.