Mirny, Russia

 

Mirny is a city in Russia, the administrative center of the Mirninsky district, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), forms the urban settlement of the city of Mirny. The diamond capital of Russia.

 

Etymology

It arose as a settlement at the diamond deposit - the Mir kimberlite diamond pipe, which was named Mirny by its name; in 1959 the settlement was given the status of a city.

 

Geography

The city is located in the west of Yakutia, on the Irelyakh River (Vilyui basin). Distance from the capital of the republic, Yakutsk, along the Vilyui highway - 1072 km, by air - 820 km.

 

Climate

Mirny is located in the very north of the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. The climate is sharply continental. The winter is very cold; summer is short but warm enough. The city belongs to the regions of the Far North.

 

Transport accessibility

In 1957, in the village of Mukhtuya (now the city of Lensk), located on the Lena River, the construction of a port and a highway to Mirny began. In 1978, the construction of the year-round highway Lensk - Mirny - Aikhal - Udachny was completed. As of 2022, almost the entire length of the road is unpaved - for weather reasons (heavy rain), traffic can be difficult. The first 10 kilometers of asphalt pavement on the Lensk-Mirny section were completed in 2021.

As of 2022, the Yakutsk-Vilyuysk-Mirny highway has no bridges at 4 intersections with the Vilyuy River (near the villages of Verkhnevilyuysk, Kundyade, Suntar, Krestyakh) (until 2019, there was also no crossing over the Markha River near the village of Zharkhan) - off-season movement is impossible, in the summer pontoon and ferry crossings are built, in winter - winter roads.

Also in winter it is possible to drive along the winter road Ust-Kut - Lensk.

The only year-round connection with the "mainland" as of 2022 is carried out through the Mirny airport. The main volume of transportation of heavy and oversized cargo to Mirny is carried out in the summer: to Lensk by river transport, then by road.

It is planned to build a year-round federal highway "Vilyuy": Tulun - Bratsk - Ust-Kut - Mirny - Yakutsk.

 

History

The city owes its existence and name to the discovery in 1955 of the Mir kimberlite pipe.

In 1957, open pit diamond mining began (the Mir open pit), which lasted 44 years (until 2001). By 2001, the quarry was 525 meters deep and over 1200 meters wide, becoming one of the largest in the world after the Udachnaya quarry (640 meters deep, 1600 x 2000 meters on the surface).

Since 1957, diamond mining on the territory of the Mirninsky region and the Yakutsk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a whole was carried out by the trust, later the production and scientific association (PNO) "Yakutalmaz" them. V.I. Lenin. In 1992 the association was transformed into the joint stock company Almazy Rossii-Sakha (ALROSA).

In 1959 Mirny already received the status of a city. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Udachny - Lensk highway, about 800 km long, was built for the development of the city of Mirny, the settlements of Udachny and Aikhal, the construction of Yakutalmaz mining enterprises in these settlements.

In the next 40 years, the city's population increased 5 times, and most of the residential buildings began to be multi-storey stone buildings. Processing of diamonds began at factories No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3. A rather large airport appeared with a runway length of about 2800 meters.

 

Economy

Mirny is the center of the joint-stock company ALROSA, which mines diamonds in the Mirny, Anabar and Nyurbinsky uluses with their subsequent sale.

The main structures of the social and cultural sphere of the city and the Mirninsky district were built by builders and at the expense of AK ALROSA, and are on the balance sheet of this company.

The Srednebotuobinskoye oil and gas condensate field, one of the richest oil and gas fields in the region, is located 130 km from the city.

JSC Vilyuygesstroy, Western Electric Networks, JSC ALROSA-Gas, local industry enterprises, trade and public catering organizations also operate in the city and in the Mirninsky district.

In January 2017, it was planned to open a major international postal exchange (IMPO) in the city by the Russian Post. This MMPO was supposed to remain the only one through which foreign postal services that did not agree to increased tariffs would be able to deliver unregistered mail and small packages (up to 2 kg) to the country. Exceptions to this tightening of rules were supposed only for EMS, forwarding mail from the EurAsEC countries.

 

Culture

Palace of Culture "Almaz" (until 1980 the Palace of Culture and Technology "Metallurg") - opened in 1977
Universal theater and concert center "Yakutsk"
Mirny Central City Library - opened in 1960
Museum of Local Lore
Historical and production AK ALROSA was founded on the basis of the historical and production museum of PNO Yakutalmaz, opened in 1986
Museum of Kimberlites - opened in 2002, its creator was the geologist Dzhems Ilyich Savrasov; in 2022, the museum stopped renting premises in the city administration building, some of the exhibits were placed in the Almaz Palace of Culture
Botanical Garden - opened in 2005
Natural Park "Living Diamonds of Yakutia" (Aan Aiylgy) - opened in 2009

 

Education

At the moment, there are 7 schools in Mirny: School No. 1, Polytechnic Lyceum, School No. 7, School No. 8, School No. 12 with in-depth study of English, School No. 26, and the Orthodox Gymnasium in the name of St. Innocent Metropolitan of Moscow.

The Mirny Regional Technical College operates in the city, which trains workers and technical personnel for the diamond mining company ALROSA and oil and gas companies operating in Western Yakutia, is considered the best educational institution of secondary vocational education in Yakutia and one of the best in Russia: (in 2011, 2012 , 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 is among the 100 best secondary schools in Russia.In November 2015, by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, he was awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of quality, In 2018 he is a laureate of the Prize of the CIS countries in the field of quality of goods and services ). The college has 4 branches in the city of Udachny, the villages of Aikhal, Chernyshevsky and Svetly. The director of the college, Vladimir Viktorovich Berezovoy, is an Honorary Citizen of the city of Mirny, an Honorary Worker of Secondary Vocational Education of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), and was also awarded honorary signs of the Board of Directors of Russian secondary schools "Director of the Year" in 2011-2018.

There are several branches of universities, including the Branch of NEFU (MPTI - Mirny Polytechnic Institute), branches: Tomsk TUSUR, Institute of Professional Innovations and Novosibirsk NGASU (Sibstrina), North-West Open Technical University (SZOTU).

 

Russian Orthodox Church

Holy Trinity Church (rector - Archpriest Vladimir Sevryukov).
Andreevsky Monastery. Temple in honor of the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. Hegumen Seraphim (Roshka).
Chapel in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "The Burning Bush". Territory of the Fire Department.
Chapel in honor of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. ATC area.

 

Sport

Sports complex "Olympus".
Palace of Sports "Kimberlit". It hosted the World Futsal Championships among club teams (2005), and then among national teams (2007), the International Games "Children of Asia" (2008).
Triumph Stadium. It was built in 2005 together with specialists from Finland. Capacity - 5000 people. Became one of the best stadiums in the Far Eastern Federal District.
Pool "Crystal"
MFC Almaz-ALROSA (disbanded). Winner of the highest league of the Russian mini-football championship in 2010, 2012, 2019.
Municipal institution of additional education "Children's and youth sports school".

 

Architecture, layout

There are 2 squares in the city center (both on the main street - Leningradsky Prospekt). One of them houses the Vilyuy guest house, the Azimut hotel, the city hall, the district administration building and the Almaz Palace of Culture, the other is the Yakutsk theater and concert center, a monument in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Victory, the Church of the Holy Trinity. On Tikhonov Street there is a beautiful building of the Diamond Sorting Center of AK ALROSA.

Unlike many northern projects in the USSR, Mirny was not built according to a pre-approved master plan, as, for example, the city of Ust-Ilimsk. Starting from the 1950s, the city grew around the Mir quarry, which predetermined its current state and architectural and planning problems.

The territorial development of the city is significantly limited by the layout of the city, which developed spontaneously during the years of active growth. The growth of the city to the east is limited by the Mir quarry and the airport with a runway. From the southeast, the city is surrounded by an ore-carrying road, along which heavy dump trucks and technological vehicles run. In the northeast there is a large gas boiler house, the construction of housing near which is prohibited by SanPiN. The development of the city to the north is limited by the enrichment plant No. 3 and its tailings, and to the west - by natural relief.

This state of affairs is forcing the local authorities to build houses on vacant plots, often "embedding" large 9-story houses in the yards in front of 4-5-story houses.

Architecturally, the city is a collection of houses of various heights and years of construction. The basis of the housing stock is made up of 4-, 5- and 9-story houses built in the 1970s and 80s, however, entire streets built up with 2-story wooden houses built during the development of the Mir pipe have survived. Some of them still lack sewerage. For the construction of the city, a Building Materials Combine was put into operation, which supplied prefabricated reinforced concrete structures for the construction of houses.

There are almost no “Khrushchev” buildings in the city, since most of the projects were developed by their own scientific research institute “Yakutniproalmaz”, whose specialists categorically objected to the “Khrushchev” building. Thanks to their efforts, the project for the construction of the only 9-storey building of the so-called increased comfort (house No. 12 on Tikhonov Street) was approved. In this house, 3-, 4- and 5-room apartments are made on two levels with the allocation of an entrance hall to a separate level under or above the main area of ​​the apartment (project of the Yakutniproalmaz Research Institute).

It should be noted the overall high quality of the construction of panel houses. In connection with the need to provide thermal insulation of housing in severe Yakut frosts, the thickness of the wall panels is up to 70 cm, and the panels themselves were made of high-strength concrete.

The main square of the city is framed by three buildings - the Almaz Palace of Culture, the building of the district administration and the Zarnitsa hotel. In 2005, a monument to V. I. Lenin was erected on the square. The buildings are not united into a single architectural complex and are typical projects.