In the 18th century, Polish nobleman Józef Aleksander Lubomirski founded the border town of Józefgród, named after him, on the left bank of the Kodyma, opposite of Ottoman-ruled Balta.

[3] In 1768, a Polish unit of the Bar Confederation fled across the border to Ottoman-ruled Balta, followed by chasing Russian troops, who then burned the town, an event that sparked the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774).

[3] In 1776, King Stanisław August Poniatowski vested Józefgród with town rights and established two annual fairs.

[7] It was occupied by German and Romanian troops on 5 August 1941 and became part of Transnistria Governorate in Kingdom of Romania until its recapture on 29 March 1944 by Red Army.

The municipality was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Odesa Oblast to seven.