Bilibino is a city (since 1993) in Russia, the administrative center of the Bilibino region of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
The city is located at the confluence of the Karalveem River with the Bolshoi Keperveem River (Kolyma basin) on the left side, 653 km from Anadyr. The distance to Magadan is 1160 km, to Moscow - 6500 km.
Bilibino is one of the largest settlements in Chukotka. Its
population is about 5,500 people, by Chukchi standards, this is a large
figure, about 10% of the total population of the ChAO. Against the
background of other settlements of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, it is
distinguished by two features: the first, it has the status of a city,
and the second is that Bilibino is located in the depths of the
mainland. All major cities and towns of Chukotka are located on the
shores of the Arctic or Pacific Oceans. There are only three cities in
Chukotka, these are the aforementioned Bilibino, as well as Pevek and
the capital Anadyr. Pevek is the northernmost city in Russia and is an
important port on the Northern Sea Route in the eastern sector of the
Russian Arctic, while Anadyr is located on the shores of the Pacific
Ocean. Along the ocean coast are the largest Chukotka urban settlements
and settlements: Egvekinot, Coal Mines, Providence, Lavrentia,
Beringovsky. The coastal location makes these settlements more
accessible for the delivery of goods, therefore, in comparison with
them, it is not so easy to deliver goods and consumer goods to Bilibino,
located in the depths of the mainland.
It is the remoteness from
the main transport routes that makes Bilibino one of the most expensive
cities in Russia to live in. Why do 5,500 people live in such a
"backwoods"? The city was founded in 1955, when the first placer gold of
industrial concentration was discovered in the valley of the Karalvaam
River, and since then the flywheel of construction and industrial
development has only been gaining momentum. By 1989, 15,558 people
already lived in Bilibino. By the way, 1989 was the year of the greatest
prosperity for the entire Russian Arctic, then, at the end of the 1980s,
the maximum number of people was concentrated there in the entire
history of the development of the North. During Soviet times, new
settlements were built throughout the Far North-East of our country, new
deposits were developed, people moved here from central Russia to live
and work.
In 1991, the country fell apart, but hunger,
devastation and general impoverishment did not reach Chukotka
immediately. A wave of nationwide disaster reached the easternmost part
of Russia by the year 1995, and in just 5 years an apartment in Bilibino
cost some 5,000 rubles, and this at a salary of local gold miners of
10-15 thousand rubles and with the price of a Bilibino-Moscow plane
about 4 -6 thousand rubles (an apartment for the price of a plane
ticket!). At that strange time, the population of Chukotka and the
neighboring Magadan region decreased by two-thirds (60%!). In Chukotka,
entire villages were closed, people were resettled to the mainland, for
example, to Voronezh and Belgorod. So in Bilibino, from the former
15,558 inhabitants, about 5,500 remained.
Due to the fact that Bilibino has lost two-thirds of the population,
two-thirds of the houses in the city are abandoned. Those who decided to
stay in the north were relocated to several neighborhoods in which life
is supported, the rest of the microdistricts are slowly falling apart -
they can no longer be restored. Since all abandoned houses stand apart
from residential ones, there is no feeling of general devastation and
hopelessness in Bilibino. Some houses have recently been painted with
multi-colored paints, and now they do not look as dull as their gray
counterparts, which have not yet reached the turn of painting.
As
I wrote above, the specific location of Bilibino in the depths of the
mainland, far from land and sea transport routes, makes it difficult to
access, but not for people (you can almost always fly here without much
difficulty by plane, though for fabulous money), but for goods . Imagine
for yourself that a resident of Bilibino buys a car (if he does not buy
one of those that are already in Bilibino), he needs to do the
following. Somehow get out to Vladivostok or another major city in
Russia, buy a car and then send the car to Bilibino. The car will make
the following long journey: first, on the train platform to Vladivostok,
then it will be reloaded onto a ship and sent to Magadan, then from
there, with the help of a truck, it will be transported along the Kolyma
highway to Seimchan (a port in the upper reaches of the Kolyma River),
in Seimchan the car will be reloaded on a river boat and sent down the
river to the village of Anyuisk, and only there the owner will be able
to receive his vehicle. At the same time, from Anyuisk, the car will
need to be driven 250 km along a gravel (year-round) road to Bilibino.
Compare this with how an ordinary resident of a metropolis like Moscow
or Novosibirsk buys a car in a car dealership.
One of the summer
transport routes is described above, through which various food and
household goods can get to Bilibino. In the same way, on a passing ship
along the Kolyma River, I ended up in Chukotka as part of my journey
through the Russian Far East. Another way to Bilibino also starts from
Vladivostok. The ship goes to Chukotka past the coast of Kamchatka, the
destination may be the village of Egvekinot or Pevek. It is these two
settlements that are connected with Bilibino through the summer road
network of the fifth category (otherwise “just to drive”), this road
network operates from mid-July (it is at this time that the flood ends
on the rivers) until mid-September (rarely until the end of the month,
in depending on when it snows). From Egvekinot to Bilibino more than
1000 km in one direction, the road is difficult and dangerous (local
drivers would add that you can’t drive there sober), there are no
bridges across most of the rivers and you have to wade them. They rarely
travel alone on such roads, more often in columns. From Pevek to
Bilibino, about 650 km along the summer road, it is also not easy, as it
passes through the mountains. Pevek accepts ships not only from
Vladivostok, but also those that came along the Northern Sea Route from
Murmansk or Arkhangelsk.
Such complex logistics often double the
price of durable goods such as buckwheat or potatoes. In a short summer,
you need to bring goods for the whole year in advance, but prices in
stores do not change throughout the year. But if something ends faster
than planned, then in winter you have to use an airplane to deliver
cargo, and this leads to a rise in the cost of goods at times. So, by
the beginning of spring, potatoes can cost 300-400 rubles per kilo, a
dozen eggs about 200, bananas 600-700 rubles per kilogram, greens about
2000 per kilo. In winter. in addition to the plane, you can bring goods
along the winter road along the route Yakutsk - Ust-Nera - Zyryanka -
Srednekolymsk - Anyuisk - Bilibino, but it also operates from
mid-February to April (only two months!). And how much can you bring on
KAMAZ for a city with a population of 5,500 people.
Of course,
most of the inhabitants are engaged in fishing, hunting and gathering
berries and mushrooms. If you do not make any stocks for the winter in
the summer and eat only food from the store, then no money will be
enough.
Another thing familiar to a resident of a metropolis,
like fast unlimited Internet, also appeared quite recently, just a
couple of years ago. Even 5 years ago, the inhabitants of Chukotka, as
well as Magadan or Kamchatka, once every two years (due to preferential
leave, i.e. when they pay for the flight for the whole family) flew to
the mainland and there, with relatives or friends, downloaded films and
music on portable hard drives for two years in advance.
Mobile
communications in Chukotka appeared for the first time in 2008!
Life in the Far North-East of the country is completely different from
life in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and even Siberia. On the other hand, how
interesting it is when such reserved corners still remain in the
globalized world.
Bilibino Museum of Local Lore G.S. Glazyrina.
In
1968, a monument to Yu. A. Bilibin was opened. The pedestal was a
huge ice age boulder weighing about 20 tons. In the niche of the
pedestal there is a bust of Yuri Alexandrovich Bilibin.
A metal
composition dedicated to the 45th anniversary of Bilibino, on the
square in front of the cinema building.
The observation deck on
the Orbita hill offers a beautiful view of the entire city.
The tundra climate is very cold throughout the year. According to the Köppen climate classification - Arctic climate (ET index). The average annual temperature is −13.9 ° C, with about 198 mm of precipitation falling annually.
Bilibino is connected with the settlements of the region, mines and
the city of Pevek by numerous dirt roads and winter roads. A wide
pebble-and-earth highway was built connecting the regional center
with the seaport on the Kolyma River - Cape Verde, from where the
main supply of the city with everything necessary is carried out.
Air communication with the city is carried out through the
Keperveyem airport, located in the village of the same name, where a
36-kilometer year-round road of IV category with a hard (unpaved)
surface is laid.
There are two bus routes: one city and one
suburban "Bilibino - Keperveem". They are serviced by the municipal
auto transport enterprise of the Bilibino municipal district.
Rolling stock: LAZ-695N, MAZ-103.