Tolyatti

Tolyatti (English)
Тольятти (Russian)
-  City[1]  -

Location of Samara Oblast in Russia
Tolyatti
Location of Tolyatti in Samara Oblast
Coordinates: 53°30′32″N 49°25′20″E / 53.50889°N 49.42222°E / 53.50889; 49.42222Coordinates: 53°30′32″N 49°25′20″E / 53.50889°N 49.42222°E / 53.50889; 49.42222
Coat of arms
Flag
Administrative status (as of December 2011)
Country Russia
Federal subject Samara Oblast[2]
Administratively subordinated to city of oblast significance of Tolyatti[2]
Administrative center of Stavropolsky District,[1] city of oblast significance of Tolyatti[2]
Municipal status (as of December 2004)
Urban okrug Tolyatti Urban Okrug[3]
Administrative center of Tolyatti Urban Okrug,[3] Stavropolsky Municipal District[3]
Mayor Sergey Andreyev
Statistics
Population (2010 Census) 719,632 inhabitants[4]
- Rank in 2010 18th
Time zone SAMT (UTC+04:00)[5]
Founded 1737
Previous names Stavropol-on-Volga (until 1964)[6]
Postal code(s)[7] 445xxx
Dialing code(s) +7 8482[8]
Official website
Tolyatti on Wikimedia Commons

Tolyatti (Russian: Толья́тти; IPA: [tɐˈlʲjætʲɪ]), also known in English as Togliatti, is a city in Samara Oblast, Russia. Population: 719,632 (2010 Census);[4] 702,879 (2002 Census);[9] 630,543 (1989 Census).[10] It is the largest city in Russia which does not serve as the administrative center of a federal subject.[4]

Preobrazhensky Sobor - Transfiguration Cathedral, Tolyatti

Internationally, the city is best known as the home of Russia's largest car manufacturer AvtoVAZ (Lada), which was founded in the late 1960s.

History

It was founded in 1737 as a fortress called Stavropol (Ста́врополь) by the Russian statesman Vasily Tatishchev. Informally it was often referred as Stavropol-on-Volga (Ста́врополь-на-Во́лге, Stavropol-na-Volge) to distinguish from Stavropol, a large city in southwest Russia.

The construction of the Kuybyshev Dam and Hydroelectric Station on the Volga River in the 1950s created the Kuybyshev Reservoir, which covered the existing location of the city, and it was completely rebuilt on a new site. In 1964, the city was renamed Tolyatti (after Palmiro Togliatti, the longest-serving secretary of the Italian Communist Party).

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Tolyatti serves as the administrative center of Stavropolsky District,[1] even though it is not a part of it.[11] As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Tolyatti—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.[2] As a municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Tolyatti is incorporated as Tolyatti Urban Okrug.[3]

City divisions

For the administrative purposes, the city is divided into three districts:

Economy

AvtoVAZ administration building

The city's main claim to fame has been automobile manufacturing by AvtoVAZ's Lada (Zhiguli) car plants, employing some 110,000 people: in cooperation with Italy's Fiat since 1970, with General Motors since 2001[12] and with the Renault-Nissan Alliance since 2012.

Other industries have moved into Tolyatti because it is close to abundant supplies of electricity and water. Petrochemicals are well represented in the city. Among the significant enterprises based there are "TogliattiAzot" (Russia's biggest ammonia manufacturer headed by Sergei Makhlai) and "KuibyshevAzot" (a nitrogen fertilizer manufacturer and Russia's biggest caprolactam and polyamide producer). Other industries include building materials production, ship repair and electrical equipment and electronics.

In 2011 the Togliatti Special Economic Zone was launched in order to develop the region further and diversify the economy of the city. Several auto-component producers (German Mubea and Japanese Sanoh among them) have since been registered, as well as large industrial manufacturers (Praxair and Edscha). By November 2012 the value of project investment totalled 10 billion Rubles and around 3000 jobs were being created.[13]

Transportation

River port on the Volga

The transport system is well developed in the city. Public transport includes municipal buses and trolley-buses, and so-called "alternative" (commercial) transport or marshrutkas.

External transport routes are provided by two bus stations, two railway stations and a city harbour. Tolyatti has its airport as well, but it is used by personal aircraft only (the nearest international airport, Kurumoch, is located 40 km away, towards Samara). The city is linked to the federal road network by the M5 "Ural" highway.

As one of Russia's "motor cities", Tolyatti's car population has been greatly expanded, and traffic jams are common during morning and evening rush hours — Samara Oblast was one of the first regions to receive an additional licence plate code because its existing code did not have enough numbers for all its residents' cars.

Culture, education, and sports

Olimp Sport Palace

The creation of the Kuybyshev Reservoir in the 1950s destroyed much of the city's history, so almost all the city's cultural points of interest date from the Soviet period, but the city administration has continued to build new monuments and cathedrals. A recent notable event was the 1998 opening of the large Tatishchev Monument near the Volga. The Transfiguration Cathedral was completed in 2002.

Education

Education is represented by over one hundred public and ten private schools, as well as several higher education institutions. Most notable ones include:

Museums

Sports

In eyes of the Soviet leaders, Tolyatti was a perfect Soviet city (since most population migrated here during the construction of AvtoVAZ factories) – many sports facilities appeared so that the "perfect Soviet person" could be healthy. The city has high-quality sports facilities: gymnasiums, swimming pools, ice arenas, association football and racing stadiums — as a result, many athletes, including Olympic Champion Alexei Nemov, Stanley Cup winners Alexei Kovalev and Ilya Bryzgalov had moved to Tolyatti. Current Montreal Canadiens defensemen Alexei Emelin, and Former Washington Capitals winger Viktor Kozlov and defenseman Alexei Tezikov were born there.

Tolyatti is represented in almost every kind of team sports. Tolyatti's Lada-sponsored Ice Hockey Club broke the Moscow teams' domination of the game. The Lada women's football team has won the Russian championship several times — and the Lada women's handball team, who are the Russian and European Champions, is the core for Russian national women's handball. Men's football (FC Lada Togliatti and FC Togliatti), basketball, speedway and handball teams also take part in national championships. As for the traditional national sport of Russia, bandy, there is a team founded in 2013, TOAZ,[14] which however only takes part in a recreational league.

Parks and monuments

Loyalty Monument: Kostya looks east across Lev Yashin Street and down South Highway

Tolyatti has many parks, and many of these contain monuments of cultural, historical, and aesthetic interest. Examples include Victory Park with its Victory Monument and other monuments, Liberty Square with its Obelisk of Glory and other monuments, Central Park with its Mourning Angel (a memorial to victims of Soviet repression), large statue of Lenin, and other monuments, and other parks.

And there are other monuments outside the parks. The City Duma has been energetic in creating or designating historical and cultural monuments, ranging from the colossal equestrian Tatishchev Monument to the tumbledown Repin House and a monument to a faithful dog, and many other types.

Media

There are a number of local newspapers published in Tolyatti: Ploshchad Svobody, Tolyattinskoye Obozreniye (Tolyatti Observer), business newspaper "Monday" ("Ponedelnik"), Volny Gorod, Gorodskiye Vedomosti, and a few others. In the end of the 1990s, Tolyattinskoye Obozreniye published a series of articles on a local crime group. The stories drew attention to the group's connections with the local police.[15][16] Subsequently, Togliatti Review saw two of its editors (Valery Ivanov and Alexei Sidorov) killed in 2002-2003.[17][18][19][20]

The only local-born FM-band radio station is Radio August (Радио Август) at 70.64 and 102.3 MHz.

Crime

October 2007 bomb attack

During the morning rush hour of 31 October 2007, a bomb exploded on a passenger bus in the city, killing at least eight people and injuring about 50 in what Irina Doroshenko, a spokeswoman for the investigative wing of the local prosecutor’s office, said could be a terrorist attack.[21] At the beginning of the investigation, it was believed to be the work of terrorists from the North Caucasus.[22] Early reports indicated possible involvement of Chechen terrorist Doku Umarov.[23] However, the officials later named a 21-year-old Evgeny Vakhrushev, who also died in the blast, as the only person to be responsible for the tragedy.[24]

Organized crime

The city also has a reputation for gang violence.[25][26]

Violent crimes

The city has witnessed a mafia killing spree: there have been 550 commissioned killings in Tolyatti over 1998-2004, five of those murdered were journalists.[27]

Three chief architects of Tolyatti were victims of violent crimes: Valery Lopatin was shot to death on July 7, 2004, Mikhail Syardin and Aleksander Kiryakov were also injured in violent attacks.[28]

A former city mayor (1994–2000), Sergey Zhilkin (Сергей Жилкин), was murdered on November 15, 2008.[29]

On December 13, 2008, Anatoly Stepanov, a vice-speaker of Duma of Samara Oblast, a former head of administration of Tsentralny City District of Tolyatti in 1991-1997 and Tolyatti mayor candidate in 2004, was attacked on a street and left with serious head injuries. He died in hospital on February 24, 2009.[30]

Corruption

The city's mayor in 2000-2007, Nikolay Utkin (Николай Уткин), was sentenced to seven years in prison on corruption charges.[31][32]

Local government

Mayor Sergey Andreyev was elected in 2012.

Twin towns and sister cities

Tolyatti is twinned with:

Partner cities

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Государственный комитет Российской Федерации по статистике. Комитет Российской Федерации по стандартизации, метрологии и сертификации. №ОК 019-95 1 января 1997 г. «Общероссийский классификатор объектов административно-территориального деления. Код 36 240», в ред. изменения №259/2014 от 12 декабря 2014 г.. (State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation. Committee of the Russian Federation on Standardization, Metrology, and Certification. #OK 019-95 January 1, 1997 Russian Classification of Objects of Administrative Division . Code 36 240, as amended by the Amendment #259/2014 of December 12, 2014. ).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Charter of Samara Oblast
  3. 1 2 3 4 Law #189-GD
  4. 1 2 3 Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  5. ↑ Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №271-ФЗ от 03 июля 2016 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #271-FZ of July 03, 2016 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  6. ↑ Office of the Mayor: History and geography
  7. ↑ Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (Russian)
  8. ↑ Выписка из реестра Российской системы и плана нумерации, Федеральное агенство связи (Россвязь) / ABC code plan by Rossvyaz (Federal Communications Agency of Russia)
  9. ↑ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian). Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  10. ↑ Demoscope Weekly (1989). "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  11. ↑ Государственный комитет Российской Федерации по статистике. Комитет Российской Федерации по стандартизации, метрологии и сертификации. №ОК 019-95 1 января 1997 г. «Общероссийский классификатор объектов административно-территориального деления. Код 36 440», в ред. изменения №259/2014 от 12 декабря 2014 г.. (State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation. Committee of the Russian Federation on Standardization, Metrology, and Certification. #OK 019-95 January 1, 1997 Russian Classification of Objects of Administrative Division . Code 36 440, as amended by the Amendment #259/2014 of December 12, 2014. ).
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ http://oeztlt.ru/en/
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ Togliatti Journal; Gathering News in This New Russia Can Be Fatal, Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, 16 May 2002.
  16. ↑ How the Togliatti Observer Was Born Excerpt from "That's How It Happened", Togliatti Observer, 11 April 2002.
  17. ↑ Newspaper Editor Killed, Steven Lee Myers, New York Times, 11 October 2003.
  18. ↑ Court acquits suspect in Togliatti editor's murder Ann Cooper, Committee to Protect Journalists, 12 October 2004.
  19. ↑ The Togliatti Murders: 'They Can't Kill Us All' Committee to Protect Journalists, 15 September 2009.
  20. ↑ UNESCO Condemns Assassination of Russian Journalist Alexei Sidorov UNESCO Press Release 2003-80.
  21. ↑ Bomb on Russian Bus Kills at Least 8, Michael Schwirtz, New York Times, 1 November 2007.
  22. ↑ 8 dead in Russian terror blast, Russia Today, 31 October 2007.
  23. ↑ Bus blast suspect identified: police, Russia Today, 02 November 2007.
  24. ↑ Togliatti bus bomber named, Russia Today, 03 November 2007.
  25. ↑ Eight killed in Russia bus blast BBC, 31 October 2007.
  26. ↑ Криминальная история Тольятти Crime history of Tolyatti.
  27. ↑ Russian journalism comes under fire Paul Jenkins, BBC, 2 July 2004.
  28. ↑ В Тольятти новый главный архитектор Tolyatti has a new chief architect, TLT.ru, April 10, 2009. (Russian)
  29. ↑ Togliatti State University: We are mouring.
  30. ↑ Загадки убийства Степанова Mysteries in assassination of Stepanov, TLTgorod.ru. (Russian)
  31. ↑ Togliatti Mayor Suspected of Extorting 4-Storey House Pavel Sedakov, Kommersant, 17 August 2007.
  32. ↑ Mayoral Elections Criticized After Arrest Natalya Krainova, The St. Petersburg Times, 2 March 2010.
  33. ↑ Русия – Толиати Official site of Kazanlak (Bulgarian)
  34. ↑ Togliatti - Russland Official site of Wolfsburg (German)
  35. ↑ Decisione della Giunta comunale di Piacenza del 14 luglio 2009 (Italian)

Sources

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