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Bryansk Region
// GENERAL INFORMATION
Bryansk land is a unique territory. From time immemorial, it has been an impregnable shield of the Russian people in defense of their vast homeland.
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The region's location on the watershed of the Dnieper and Volga river systems has had an enormous influence on settlement there.
Bryansk Region was formed on July 5, 1944.
Bryansk Region is one of the most industrially developed regions of the Russian Federation. It is located in the central part of the country and has an area of 34 900 km2, which larger than many countries.
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The region is situated in temperate latitudes and has a temperate continental climate. The Atlantic Ocean has a strong influence on the climate, bringing moist winds that moderate summer heat and winter cold and carry precipitation. Average temperatures are -7 °C in January and +18 °C in July; annual precipitation is 600 mm.
Forests are Bryansk Region's main resource. They cover about 40% of its territory and have a rich flora and fauna. The forests are the habitat of hares, foxes, polecats, moose, squirrels and other rodents, and many other animals.
The region's favorable location and its borders with two republics and four regions of the Russian Federation have promoted extensive multilateral economic, scientific, and cultural ties, which is one of the most important factors in its development.
Bryansk Region has a well-developed infrastructure. Companies in the engineering, metalworking, electronics, chemical, forest, woodworking, pulp and paper, light, textile, and building material industries are the leading producers. The main industrial centers are Bryansk, Dyatkovo, and Klintsy.
The large companies in Bryansk are the Bryansk Engineering Works (BMZ), AO Automobile Works (Avtomobilny zavod), AO Steel Plant (Staleliteiny zavod), AO Arsenal, AO Silicon Works (Kremnii), the Lithium Plant (zavod Litii), AO Bryansk Textiles (Bryansktekstil), and Bryansk Meat Plant (Bryanskmyaso); the largest in Dyatkovo are AO Dyatkovo Crystal (Dyatkovsky khrustal) and the Anode Factory (zavod Anod); and the largest in Klintsy is AO Klinta.
Agriculture is also well developed in the region. The main sectors are livestock breeding (beef and dairy cattle, pig and poultry farming, and beekeeping) and plant cultivation (grains: rye, barley, wheat, oats, and buckwheat; industrial crops: flax, hemp, and sugar beets).
The engineering and metalworking industries produce diesel locomotives, freight cars, diesel engines, bulldozers, graders, electric arc steel, and cast steel and iron.
The main products of the food industry are meat and dairy products, canned goods, tobacco products, and cereals. Light industry output includes yarn and clothing.
There are 16 cities and 27 towns in the region with a total population of 1 474 900 people, of whom 1 003 100 live in urban areas and 471 800 in rural areas.
The region has substantial peat and phosphorite reserves, and non-ore minerals needed for the building material and glass industries have also been discovered.
Bryansk Region has considerable export potential, mainly for primary products and materials. A large proportion of primary products are used in the ferrous metallurgy industry to produce cast iron, steel, and rolled metal. The main export items are building materials such as cement and roofing slate.
The region has foreign economic ties with many countries around the world; its largest trading partners are the United States, China, Thailand, Germany, Iran, and Romania.
HISTORY
The history of Bryansk Region begins at the end of the 10th century, when the first cities were built on the banks of the Desna, Vostra, Trubezh, Sula, and Stugna rivers. For a long time, the original site of the city of Bryansk was unknown; however, the remains of a natural fortress were discovered on a steep bank of the Desna River during archeological digs. The fortress was apparently protected on all sides by deep ravines and forest. It is clear from the remains of a circular rampart that the settlement was enclosed in a wooden palisade. There was a good view all around from the fortress walls. Tangled thickets (debri) on the riverbank hid it from strangers on the river. This is obviously the origin of the city's name: Debryansk, Bryn, or Bryansk.
The Vyatich who settled Bryansk Region were pagans who worshipped the thunder god Perun. Christianity began spreading only in 985. After the arrival of an archbishop, Bryansk became the religious center of southwestern Rus.
At the end of the 11th century, Bryansk became a possession of the Chernigov princedom until Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich conquered it in 1147. The city remained untouched during the Tatar-Mongol invasions. It later came under the rule of Prince Roman of Bryansk, the son of Prince Mikhail of Chernigov. He was a valiant warrior and a shrewd politician and diplomat who managed not only to defend his lands against Tatar and Lithuanian invasions, but also to extend their boundaries.
At the end of the 13th century, the Bryansk princedom was one of the strongest in Rus with well-developed arts and trade. Peasants, artisans, nobles (boyars), soldiers, and servants came to Bryansk from surrounding cities. As head of state, the prince was in charge of defense, foreign policy, and public security and helped strengthen the position of the church. By this time, the Bryansk princedom had strengthened to such an extent that it disturbed the Golden Horde, and Prince Roman was murdered in 1290. The Tatars destroyed Bryansk in the early 14th century while the prince's heirs were bogged down in internal wars, but Prince Dmitry Donskoi succeeded in uniting the hostile princedoms. He was a talented commander who decisively defeated the forces of the Golden Horde in the Battle of Kulikova.
Wars and internal strife continued in Byransk Region throughout the 15th and early 16th centuries, but trade finally began to revive in 1635. A new inn court [a market complex with inns and warehouses for merchants] was built, and tax and customs concessions were introduced for foreign merchants. A trade fair that had become one of the most renowned fairs in Rus by the 17th century was held near the Svensky Cloister. The merchant class dominated in Bryansk, while the governor (voevoda) was concerned with politics. The City Hall directed the activities of the burgomasters, who were elected from among the merchant class and who were responsible for collecting taxes.
Shipbuilding began at the end of the 17th century by decree of Peter the Great, and a shipyard was opened in 1737. The first ships to be built were 200 small craft that were dispatched to take part in the siege of Ochakov. The most important event was the construction of the Arsenal factory to supply weapons to the army. It finally began operations on March 23, 1785, with the casting of the first two 24-pound cannons. In 1886, workers rose up in rebellion over low living standards and disenfranchisement in the workplace; and within a year, the first political organizations initiated by workers appeared. An industrial boom began in the second half of the 19th century: large engineering and metalworking plants were built, the cement industry emerged, and the first production of roofing slate in Russia began. Amateur sports were widespread by 1912, and worker's families received free treatment at the small Zhukovsky tuberculosis sanatorium built in 1914.
Bryansk passed through the Revolution of 1917 without bloodshed. On the night of October 25, the Bryansk Revolutionary Committee took control of the telegraph and post offices, banks, and railway stations. By morning every resident knew what had happened. Within six days, all of the large companies in the city and its surroundings had been taken over.
During the Civil War, Austrian and German forces occupied Bryansk, and tens of thousands of people were sent off to hard labor in Germany. The occupiers took over Zlynka, Novozybkov, Klintsy, Unecha, and Starodub in spring 1918. During the battles for Klintsy, Soviet forces blocked the railway line and surrounded the German garrison. The German command was forced to enter into negotiations that resulted in the Germans evacuating Klintsy without destroying bridges and telephone and telegraph lines. Novozybkov was liberated on December 25. Soviet forces subsequently liberated the western districts of Bryansk Region.
New factories opened in 1939, and the world's first electric power station operating on milled fuel under chamber combustion was built in Bryansk. A number of other thermoelectric power plants were also built. Completion of the railway network led to a significant increase in freight traffic. Streets were paved, and buses began running.
Communications also underwent major changes. The first radio broadcasting center appeared in 1928, and by 1941, there were 30 broadcasting centers and more than 31 000 radio outlets. Through the determined efforts of both rural and urban residents, a level of industrial development eight times higher than in the post-Revolution years was achieved by the mid-20th century.
The Second World War began on June on June 22, 1941, and by June 24, Bryansk and several other cities were under martial law. Partisan groups began forming actively within a year, and by fall 1943, Bryansk was liberated from the German invaders. These were years of grief and sorrow. Nearly every factory was totally destroyed, and even in peacetime, reminders of the war were literally everywhere. However, construction of new houses soon began and industry revived. The years between 1955 and 1965 were the second technical revolution with the appearance of the auto and electronics industries. Diesel locomotives, refrigerator cars, marine diesel engines, and steam turbines were produced. Large educational, social, and cultural centers were built between 1975 and 1990, and the history of Bryansk Region has not ended there. It is currently one of Russia's major centers with a highly developed industrial potential. For Bryansk Region and for the country as a whole, the past century was a time of building and creative endeavor.
RESOURCES
The sedimentary rock strata formed over millions of years include phosphorite, marl, chalk, rottenstone [a decomposed form of limestone used as a powder or paste for polishing metal], various clays, and quartz sand. Ancient seas and glaciers played a major role in the formation of these minerals. Since the deposits are found at shallow depths or even right at the surface, they are relatively easy to develop.
The first peat-processing factory in Russia was built at the Paltso peat deposit of Bryansky District in 1875. In the late 19th century, peat was used as fuel to produce electricity at the Bryanskya district electric power station, the Klintsovskaya and Surazhskaya thermoelectric power plants, and at a number of factories in Klintsy, Surazh, and Trubchevsk.
Today, peat is the main economic mineral produced in Bryansk Region. The region's peat reserves are 1.4 times greater than those of Orlov, Kaluga, Tula, and Kursk regions put together. Peat deposits cover an area of approximately 82 000 hectares, which includes 43 000 hectares in forest deposits. The largest deposits are the Kozhanovskoe, Rekta, Chistoe, Teploe, and Vyazovskoe deposits in Klintsovsky, Bryansky, and Zhukovsky districts. Peat is widely used as a fertilizer owing to properties such as the ability to neutralize harmful soil acidity, enrich soil with organic matter, and create favorable conditions for the vital activity of useful microorganisms. Peat also inhibits the development of pathogenic bacteria and therefore is used as cattle litter.
In addition to peat, ground phosphorite is also used as fertilizer to increase the productivity of farm fields. Along with phosphoric anhydride, Bryansk phosphorites contain natural radioactive elements, which are undoubtedly beneficial to crop growth.
Phosphorite was formed through the accumulation of organic matter and delivered phosphorus compounds in the coastal zone of Cretaceous seas. The deposits of Bryansk Region are in the form of irregular lumps from about the size of a bean up to 2-3 kg.
The Russian phosphorite milling industry began in Dubrovsky District of Bryansk Region. The first plant was opened in 1883 near Seshcha to manufacture the cheapest type of phosphate fertilizer. Today, the Polpinskoe deposit in the northeast outskirts of Bryansk on the left bank of the Desna River is the only one of 44 developed deposits still operating. It has reserves of about 62 million tons and is mined by the open pit method with the use of powerful excavators.
Glauconite is commonly produced along with phosphorite, but this mineral used to be discarded as waste at the Bryansk factory that operates on production from the Polpinskoe deposit. Nevertheless, quartz-glauconitic sand is very important to the region's economy. It is used in the chemical industry as a green pigment for producing paint and as a raw material for potassium fertilizer. Glauconite is also used as molding sand in foundries.
Sapropel (aquatic ooze) is deposited at the bottom of lakes, ponds, and other stagnant or near-stagnant water bodies. This mineral is mainly used in the chemical industry. It is primarily used as fertilizer; in addition, tar obtained from sapropel during chemical treatment is used to make printer's ink, paraffin, and pitch for electric cables and wires. Sapropel is also occasionally used to make a bonding agent to replace expensive gums and glues used in the furniture industry.
The largest reserve of this mineral is found in the Kozhanovskoe deposit located in Klintsovsky District, where the sapropel-laden strata are up to 9 m thick. Other deposits are located in Novozybkovsky, Pochepsky, Starodubsky, and Trubchevsky districts.
ECONOMY
Bryansk Region is one of the most economically developed regions of the Russian Federation. It is currently experiencing an economic upturn in nearly all economic sectors, not just in certain areas. The region leads the other regions of the Central Federal District in a number of key indicators.
Present-day budget performance indicators in Bryansk Region are among the highest in the Central Federal District.
As before, the region has a good reputation among investors, who are developing modern facilities and creating new jobs here.
The regional administration works closely with Western companies. Significant tax reductions and other incentives have opened Bryansk Region for business.
Investors have legislative guarantees that legislative changes will not worsen starting conditions. It is anticipated that tax concessions will be maintained in future for newly established organizations and organizations engaged in production activities with foreign with both foreign and domestic investments that have invested their own or borrowed funds to implement investment projects approved according to the established procedure.
Provision is also made for the future organization of modern new facilities utilizing domestic and foreign investments.
Industry. Bryansk Region is a highly developed region with great industrial potential. Companies in the region manufacture products for export throughout Russia, as well as abroad.
The most developed industries include woodworking and pulp and paper, building materials, engineering and metalworking, electronics, chemicals, forestry, light industry, and textiles.
The engineering industry produces cars, diesel locomotives, machine tools, refrigeration units, graders, asphalt spreaders, excavators, road harrows, woodworking equipment, heat generators, marine and other diesel engines, bicycles, and agricultural machinery.
Other industries specialize in the following products:
- Metalworking: cast steel and iron;
- Chemical industry: fertilizer, ground phosphorite, household chemical products;
- Woodworking and pulp and paper: furniture, lumber, paper, and cardboard;
- Building materials: asbestos cement products, cement, glass, fiberglass, and insulation materials;
- Light industry: wool and knitted items, clothing, and leather shoes;
- Food processing: dairy products; meat; cheese; flour; cereals; canned meats, fruits, and vegetables; baked goods and confectionery, sausage; dried potatoes and vegetables; ethyl alcohol; and alcoholic beverages.
Companies located in Bryansk and in other parts of the region are active on the world market. One example is AO Bryansk Engineering Works (BMZ). The company was founded as a rail mill in 1873 by businessmen Petr Gubonin and Viktor Golubev. Today BMZ is one of Russia's largest engineering works, delivering its products to countries around the world and recognized by the most demanding customers. The company has been producing locomotives, freight and refrigerator cars, diesel engines, and other products intended for rail and sea transport for more than 120 years and has won international prizes and admiration at international exhibitions.
The Dyatkovo Crystal Factory was founded in the late 18th century by Russian industrialist I.A. Maltsev. At the end of the 19th century, the factory was the largest glass company in Russia; and today it is one of the largest in the world.
AO Maltsovsky Portland Cement was founded in 1899 by the "joint stock company of the Maltsovskie factories." By 1959, the factory had become one of Europe's leading cement companies.
Agriculture. Fertile soils and a long growing period favor the development of agriculture in Bryansk Region, which is one of the leading agricultural regions of the Russian Federation.
More than half of the region's land supply is used for agriculture. Most of this land (72%) is arable land, 27% consists of meadows and pastures, and 1% consists of gardens and berry fields. Livestock breeding, crop cultivation, and market gardening form the basis of the region's diversified agriculture.
Livestock breeding is Bryansk region's leading agricultural sector. It provides most of the agricultural commodities; and provision of food products, the profitability of businesses, and living standards of rural residents depend on the efficient operation of this branch of the economy. Livestock breeding for meat and dairy products, poultry farming, horse breeding, fur farming, and beekeeping are all developed in the region.
All agricultural zones in the region specialize in meat and dairy production; therefore, there is great emphasis on cultivating the most productive feed crops. Priority is given to grain crops that will have significance for both production and forage purposes as their yields increase.
Grain is cultivated on more than half the sown area, mainly in southern and central districts with more favorable climatic conditions.
Potatoes are the second most important crop after grain. After Peter the Great brought them to Russia in the early 18th century, they became the country's "second bread". Potatoes are unique in that they are simultaneously an industrial, feed, and food crop. Russia's largest potato granulating mill outfitted with modern equipment is located in Bryansk Region.
Other vegetables besides potatoes are also grown, and certain districts are noted for hothouse farming. Potatoes and vegetables are the most profitable of all agricultural products.
Less than 3% of all cropland is sown under industrial crops such as flax, hemp, sugar beets, tobacco, hops, and rapeseed, although these crops are an important source of revenues for the regional budget.
However, the region's main pride is ginseng, which was considered the "root of life" in ancient times.
Ecologically pure meat and dairy products, eggs, sugar, vegetables, fruit, and canned products are in high demand among the region's residents. Agricultural production not only satisfies local requirements, but also has considerable potential for deliveries outside the region.
The region supplies agricultural and food industry products to other regions within the country, as well as to Ukraine and Belarus.
AUTHORITIES
Bryansk Region is one of Russia's pro-Communist regions, and members of the Communist Party have led in all recent federal and local elections. During the presidential elections held on March 26, 2000, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov had the support of 16% more of the electorate in Bryansk Region than in the rest of Russia on average.
The Administration of Bryansk Region is the region's highest executive body. The Administration consists of the head of the Administration, government bodies subordinate to him, and various officials.
The Bryansk Regional Duma consisting of 27 deputies is the region's highest legislative body. The Duma exercises all the powers of a regional legislative body of the Russian Federation as stipulated by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, and the Charter and laws of the region.
Federal courts (general jurisdiction, military, and arbitration) established and functioning according to federal law and the Constitution of the Russia Federation represent judicial authority in Bryansk Region. The formation of emergency courts is prohibited.
Circuit, district, and city courts and a circuit court of arbitration all function in the region. Judicial power in the region is based on the civil, administrative, and criminal codes. The status, case examination procedure, formation, and organization of the activities of the judicial branch are defined by federal laws.
Courts and judges in the region are guaranteed independence.
CULTURE AND ART
Bryansk was one of the cultural centers of Rus in the Middle Ages. Painters, architects, carvers, jewelers, smiths, and embroideresses all worked in Bryansk. In each century, they beautified the churches, houses, and streets in their own way. Few of their names are known, but their works are. Bryansk itself is connected with the golden age of Russian national culture.
The works of the artists of old Bryansk are vivid, expressive, and filled with the philosophy and culture of the people. They reflected the power of the Russian soul and the severe beauty of nature. The appearance of secular literature and the influx of works by Byzantine writers and ancient philosophical literature brought by numerous pilgrims could not help but influence the creative work of Bryansk artists. Perhaps this was the reason for the diversity of manners and styles, although art developed along a course that was a kind of union of two streams-a refined aristocratic one and a simpler democratic one.
Many artists' cooperatives and icon-painting and other workshops flourished in Bryansk in the second half of the 14th century. Over the centuries, artisans at monasteries, cooperatives, and country estates lived and worked in Bryansk. Their fame spread far beyond its borders, and they were invited to come and work in many cities and monasteries.
Today, masters of the most varied arts work in Bryansk, e.g., painters and graphic artists, sculptors, craftsmen, and monumentalists.
Bryansk is a distinctive territory filled with objects from its past. There are some 20 museums in the region, the largest being the Bryansk Regional Historical and Geographical Museum, whose building is an integral part of the ensemble of buildings in Partisan Square in Bryansk. It has 14 branches in other cities and towns of the region.
Present-day Bryansk is also a center of theater arts. The origins of a permanent professional public theater in Russia lie in past history, in oral folk drama arising from public merrymaking, the performances of folk actors (wandering minstrel-clowns), liturgical dramas, school theater, and the first public performances in the early 18th century. The chronicles speak of the early "merrymaking" phase of the history of the Bryansk theater, including "minstrel plays", "feast games", weddings, mummery, and so on.
Today, the region has three theaters employing 260 people, including 76 artists and actors.
The people of Bryansk loved music too, as evidenced by frequent finds of musical instruments. The most widespread instruments were five-, six-, and ten-stringed guslis [psaltery - a medieval stringed instrument]; horns, pipes, and Jew's harps were also known. Wandering minstrels performed in Bryansk, as they did in other places in Old Rus.
The people of Old Russia believed that music was more than an art. In the Old Russia Book of the Seven Free Arts, music was listed as one of the free sciences along with dialectics and grammar, rhetoric and arithmetic, and geometry and astronomy. Music was considered the "fourth art" of the seven, which included architecture, literature, and painting.
Medieval Russian professional music developed exclusively in the Orthodox Church. Words had priority over sound; that is, the essence of the music was not supposed to reach the believers. Bryansk had been famous for church singing from time immemorial.
Bryansk was also the birthplace of the celebrated singer A.D. Vyaltseva (born in 1871 into a family of Trubchevsk serfs), and the home of the Leskov family [the village of Leski in Navlinsky District, where Dmitry Leskov, grandfather of the celebrated writer Nikolai Leskov, lived all his life; he was the inspiration for N. Leskov's novel The Cathedral Folk (Soboryane)].
The folklore of the Bryansk lands has long attracted the attention of collectors of folk traditions. Bryansk was untouched by the Tatar-Mongol invasions of the 13th -15th centuries and escaped the most brutal form of serfdom (on country estates) of the 17th -19th centuries. Thus, Bryansk became a natural repository of everyday folk traditions and folk art.
The Bryansk lands were celebrated for their outstanding native architecture, embroidery, wood carving, and glasswork. Internationally known Russian epic songs (byliny) have been discovered here. A large number of old folksongs, lamentations, and tales distinguished for their originality and high artistic merit were also written here.
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