The All-Ukrainian Association of Communities (VAG) launched the All-Ukrainian Club of Starostas as an advisory body within the Association.

Ivan Slobodianyk, Executive Director of the Association, announced this during the Annual VAG Summit in Khmelnytskyi region.

The Association aims to bring together the most active, professional, and motivated starostas from all regions of Ukraine within the Club. The composition of the Club will normally be determined based on proposals from the councils of the VAG regional branches. This Club will become an important consultative and advisory body of the Association and a community where starostas will be able to discuss issues and collectively develop and advocate for necessary solutions, the Association reports.

The initiative emerged in Poltava region. Starostas of the region united around the VAG regional branch back in 2023, when a meeting of the VAG Poltava branch in Semenivka supported the creation of a regional club of starostas. In the spring of 2024, at a forum in Petrivka-Romenka community, the club was officially created, and its leader and council members were elected.

During 2025, the club held meetings in all districts of Poltava region – in Poltava, Kremenchuk, Lubny, and Myrhorod districts. Based on the results of this work, the main issues were identified that the starostas are addressing in cooperation with the VAG regional branch: public safety, working during power and water outage, assistance to internally displaced persons, and support for the families of fallen and missing defenders.

Alla Boichenko, Starosta of Bilukhivka starosta district in Martynivka Village Council, Poltava district, proposed extending this experience to the national level.

‘We aim to create a unified communication space for starostas from all parts of Ukraine, to build a platform for exchanging practical experience and jointly seeking solutions to the challenges that local self-government faces,’ she said.

Ivan Slobodianyk, Executive Director of VAG, supported the initiative and announced the official creation of the Club.

The Council of the All-Ukrainian Club of Starostas is composed of representatives from all regions of Ukraine. VAG plans to develop a separate track of work with starostas in cooperation with the heads of regional branches and with the support of international partners.