Tula Region is a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, part
of the Central Federal District. The administrative center of the Tula
region is the city of Tula. The region includes 22 districts and 2
cities of regional subordination.
The region is located in the
center of the East European Plain, occupying the northeastern part of
the Central Russian Upland within the steppe and forest-steppe zones. It
borders in the north and northeast - with Moscow, in the east - with
Ryazan, in the southeast and south - with Lipetsk, in the south and
southwest - with Oryol, in the west and northwest - with Kaluga regions.
It occupies an area of 25.7 thousand square meters. kilometers. The
largest length of the territory of the region from north to south is 200
kilometers, from west to east - 190 kilometers.
The population is
1,479,294 people (2023), the share of the urban population is 74.16%
(2022), which indicates a high level of urbanization of the region. The
ethnic composition of the region's population is dominated by Russians.
On the territory of the Tula region there is a polycentric
Tula-Novomoskovsk million-strong agglomeration-conurbation.
The
Tula region was formed on September 26, 1937, when the Moscow region was
subdivided. Its predecessor, the Tula province, created by decree of
Empress Catherine II, existed from 1777 to 1929. The current borders of
the Tula region finally took shape in 1957.
Tula Zaochye
including Zaoksky district
The northern part of
the region adjacent to the Oka with the historical cities of Venev and
Aleksin.
Tula notches
The southwestern part of the region,
where the notches are best preserved - strips of forests, part of the
ancient Great Zasechnaya line.
Industrial centre
Industrial
region in the vicinity of Tula and Novomoskovsk. The center of the
Moscow Region coal basin with dying brown coal mining, as well as
metallurgy and the chemical industry, among which Yasnaya Polyana, the
museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy, is lost.
Upper Don
The
south-eastern part of the region with the historical Kulikovo field,
magnificent forest-steppe landscapes and rocky banks of the Beautiful
Sword River.
Tula is the administrative center of the
region; the city of gingerbread, samovars, gunsmiths and the ancient
Kremlin
Aleksin is a city on the banks of the Oka with Cathedral Hill
in the historical district of Zarechye
Belyov
is an ancient, but poorly preserved city, which was located on the
Zasechnaya line and is best known for the original apple marshmallow
Bogoroditsk - a well-preserved estate of the
Bobrinskys and some pre-revolutionary buildings
Venyov
is a historical border town on the Zasechnaya Line, which later retained
its important transit function. Venev attracts with its preserved
provinciality. A small population of the city, a compactly located
center with regular historical civil buildings, which are well
preserved, and in which dilapidated objects of temple architecture are
harmoniously intertwined. The oldest building in the city is the
archbishop's stone chambers of the 17th century, and the bell tower of
the St. Nicholas Church, which majestically rises not only on the city,
but also above the surroundings, attracts attention of temple
architecture. Surrounded by the city, the Venevsky Monastery and the
crumbling estate of von Mecca, which stand on the steep banks of the
winding Osetr River, are of interest. The latter is interesting due to
limestone outcrops to the surface.
Efremov
Lipki - a reserve of
Soviet architecture
Novomoskovsk is a large
industrial city with Soviet architecture and the source of the Don
Plavsk is a pretty town with pre-revolutionary buildings
Epifan is a town with an ancient history and interesting churches
Krapivna - a former county town on the Upa River
Kulikovo Field is the famous place of the
battle between the troops of Dmitry Donskoy and the Golden Horde. The
field is located near the village of Monastyrshchino, near the museum.
Odoev - a former county town with an ancient monastery and a center for
the production of Filimonov toys
Polenovo - the estate of V. Polenov,
built according to the artist's own project
The Tula Zasek Reserve is
defensive forests, beams and swamps on the border of the steppe and
forest-steppe zones, which in the 15th-17th centuries were natural
borders and served to prevent attacks by the steppe cavalry.
Yasnaya
Polyana is the estate of Leo Tolstoy.
Pre-revolutionary urban development in the Tula region is not very
well preserved, although authentic (including wooden) quarters can be
found in Tula, Venev, Plavsk.
The forest-steppe landscapes are
magnificent and diverse - from pensive silence and mysterious megalithic
stones of the Kulikovo field to the rocks of the Ishutinsk settlement on
the Beautiful Sword River.
Estate museums: the well-known Yasnaya
Polyana, Tolstoy and Turgenev places in the vicinity of Cherny, the
exquisitely original Polenovo and the Bunin Museum in Efremov.
Museum
of Weapons in Tula.
Soviet architecture is widely represented in Tula
and Novomoskovsk, as well as lesser known, but no less authentic
industrial towns in the vicinity of Tula. Lipki is especially
noteworthy, where a whole ensemble of post-war buildings, numerous
sculptures and even original design elements have been preserved.
The
Tula Kremlin is a fortress of the beginning of the 16th century.
The
estates of the Tula region are mostly abandoned, but some are
nevertheless restored and maintained in good condition: including the
recreated estate in Bogoroditsk and the estate in Bogucharovo with a
surreal bell tower - a copy of the Venetian campanile of San Marco.
Museum of Rear Admiral V.F. Rudnev in Savino, the village of Savino. ✉ ☎
8 (48734) 4-15-29. Tue-Sun 09:00-17:00, open by appointment only. The
main exposition and exhibition areas of the museum include two adjacent
halls: a large round one and a small one, the so-called wardroom. The
exposition is dedicated to the feat of the crews of the cruiser Varyag
and the gunboat Koreets.
By plane
There are no civil airports in the Tula region. The
nearest airports are in Kaluga (international), Moscow (international)
and Lipetsk (actually only domestic flights).
By train
The
main railway lines Moscow-Orel-Kharkov and Moscow-Lipetsk pass through
the Tula region, along which trains from Moscow and St. Petersburg
follow to the cities of southern Russia and eastern Ukraine. With rare
exceptions (see below), these trains only stop at Tula and/or Uzlovaya.
Trains to Lipetsk also make a stop in Efremov.
By bus
Two main
routes link Moscow with Tula and Novomoskovsk. From Tula, on average,
buses leave for Kaluga once an hour, there is also a rare connection
with the centers of neighboring regions and some remote cities (Tambov,
Voronezh, Kharkov). Many cities in the region are connected by direct
bus routes with Moscow.
By car
Federal highways M2 "Crimea"
(Moscow, Orel, Kursk, Belgorod, Eastern Ukraine) and M4 "Don" (Moscow,
Lipetsk, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don), as well as interregional roads P132
(Kaluga, Ryazan) pass through the region. ) and 1Р92 (Kaluga, Oryol).
By train
(Moscow) - Tula - Shchekino - Plavsk - Chern - (Eagle):
In the northern part of the region, it is served by Moscow trains to
Tula (5 times a day), in addition, in recent years, some direct trains
have been replaced by connecting Moscow-Serpukhov and Serpukhov-Tula
(change in Serpukhov to an adjacent platform). To the south of Tula,
suburban communication almost disappears: in addition to the only
through train to Orel, two trains a day go to the Skuratovo station, and
there another train appears to the same Orel. Long-distance trains do
not usually stop at small stations. The exceptions are the Moscow-Oryol
night train (No. 603M / 604M) and the Moscow-Kursk day train (No. 827Ch
/ 828Ch), which make stops in Shchekino, Plavsk and - only the Oryol
train - in Cherni.
(Moscow) - Venev - Uzlovaya - Bogoroditsk -
Efremov - (Lipetsk):
From Uzlovaya there are two commuter trains a
day in northern and southern directions. Several long-distance trains
(including daytime ones) make stops in Venev and Bogoroditsk. All trains
stop at Efremov.
(Kaluga) - Aleksin - Tula - Uzlovaya - (Ryazhsk):
3-4 suburban trains per day on all sections except for the section east
of Uzlovaya, where there is only one electric train, supplemented by the
exotic Chelyabinsk-Brest train (No. 303B / No. 304B), which passes
through the Tula region during the day and makes several intermediate
stops.
(Kozelsk) - Suvorov - Tula:
From Tula, the only suburban
train per day to the Cherepet station on the western border of the
region, further towards Kozelsk, only the aforementioned No. 303B / No.
304B Chelyabinsk-Brest follows.
(Kozelsk) - Belev - Plavsk:
Three
suburban trains a day between Kozelsk and Belev, there is no passenger
traffic towards Plavsk.
By bus
Bus service is most developed
in the industrial region around Tula: for example, flights to
Novomoskovsk are more like city buses and depart every 10 minutes. There
are many buses to Uzlovaya, Bogoroditsk, Shchekino, Yasnogorsk, Aleksin,
Efremov. As elsewhere in Russia, the route network is radial; chord
routes are rare.
By car
M2 "Crimea" (Moscow) - Tula - Plavsk -
Chern - (Eagle). To Tula, it has four lanes and has the status of a
highway (speed limit 110 km / h). The new Tula bypass breaks off
somewhere in the middle of the road, resting on 1P132 without any clear
signs. When driving in transit, it is better to turn to Tula, and then
to the old bypass, passing closer to the city. South of Tula, the road
is two-lane with a wide shoulder and practically four-lane traffic. Many
settlements. Active traffic in the Shchekino area, after Plavsk the flow
dries up. The condition of the asphalt is average.
M4 "Don" (Moscow)
- Venev - Novomoskovsk - Bogoroditsk - Efremov - (Lipetsk). Throughout
the Tula region, it has four lanes and has the status of a highway.
Asphalt is in good condition. Lots of motels and roadside cafes.
P132
(Kaluga) - Tula - Venev - (Ryazan). Everywhere two-lane; between Tula
and Venev is narrow and winding. The condition of the asphalt is
acceptable, but there are usually bad sections.
Tula is famous for its figured gingerbread, which are traditionally dry and are more of an aesthetic value. A less well-known - but perhaps even more delicious - product is Belyov's apple marshmallow.
The region is located in the center of the East European Plain, occupying the northeastern part of the Central Russian Upland (altitudes up to 293 m), within the zone of broad-leaved forests and forest-steppe. The zone of deciduous forests occupies the western, northern, and northeastern regions. Forest-steppe zone - southern and eastern regions of the region. The boundary between them is the boundary of the distribution of chernozems. Karst formations (craters, dips) are characteristic. The length of the territory of the region from north to south is 200 km, from west to east - 190 km. Moscow time operates in the region, the time zone is UTC + 3.
By the nature of the surface, it is a gently undulating plain with prevailing heights from 240–260 m, crossed by river valleys, gullies and ravines. There are karst relief forms - sinkholes, hollows, underground voids, caves (near Venev) with long passages, beautiful high grottoes covered with calcite deposits. River valleys are widely developed (canyon-like, asymmetric, combined). The highest point of the surface - 293 meters - is located in the village of Raevo in the Teplo-Ogarevsky district, this is also the highest mark of the Central Russian Upland), the lowest natural mark - 108 meters - is located on the banks of the Oka River on the border with the Moscow Region.
The mineral resource base of the region consists of deposits of
solid, mostly non-metallic, minerals of federal and regional
significance. In terms of the number of types of minerals represented in
the region, it occupies a leading position in the Central Federal
District. Minerals of federal significance are represented by fuel and
energy raw materials (lignite), metallic minerals (iron, strontium) and
a wide range of non-metallic minerals.
Fuel and energy raw
materials are represented by numerous deposits of brown coal (34
deposits). About half of the ore deposits of the Moscow region coal
basin, estimated at 1.5 billion tons, are concentrated within the region
(deposits near the settlements of Ageevskoye, Smorodinskoye, Donskoy,
Shchekino and Venev). Of all the coal deposits, only two are in the
distributed subsoil fund and have been listed in the category of mines
under construction for many years. There is no coal mining in the
region.
Metallic minerals are represented by the only practically
exhausted deposit of brown iron ore, which at the moment is not of
industrial interest, and the only deposit of strontium ores. The
remaining non-metallic minerals are represented by ceramic and
refractory raw materials (refractory clays, refractory clays, flux
limestones), chemical raw materials (carbonate rocks for the chemical
and for the sugar and pulp and paper industries), mineral fertilizers
(phosphorites), building materials (building stones, cement raw
materials), other minerals (gypsum, molding materials), salts,
therapeutic mud and allophane-halloysite rocks.
Almost all types
of raw materials in the region, with the exception of building stones
(43 deposits), are represented by single deposits, which are involved in
exploitation to varying degrees. For certain types of raw materials, the
Tula region occupies a leading or one of the first places in Russia.
Thus, the reserves of 4 gypsum deposits located in the region account
for 45.54% of all reserves in Russia, and the production of gypsum in
one of these deposits is 21.6% of the country's production, the reserves
of the only deposit of carbonate raw materials for sugar and pulp and
paper industries account for 13.0% of Russia's reserves, and production
- 28.3%. All other types of raw materials are not in demand for various
reasons.
Common minerals are represented in the region by 94
deposits of building materials and 3 deposits of peat. All of them,
except for carbonate rocks for lime firing, are in demand - 58 deposits
are located in the distributed subsoil fund.
There are 9 deposits
of mineral underground waters in the Tula region, 7 are in the
distributed subsoil fund, 2 are in the undistributed. According to the
chemical composition, sulfate calcium, sulfate magnesium-calcium,
hydrocarbonate-sulfate, magnesium-calcium, chloride and sodium are
distinguished. The oldest drinking and balneological resort is Krainka
in the Suvorov region.
The climate is temperate continental, characterized by moderately
cold winters with frequent thaws and warm summers. The average annual
temperature is +5 °C (standard deviation is 11 °C), the average
temperature in January is −10 °C, in July +20 °C. The duration of the
period with positive temperatures is 220-225 days. Climatically, the
region can be divided into two parts: the northwestern, which is
characterized by slightly more moisture, milder winters and cooler
summers, and the southeastern, characterized by less moisture, hotter
summers and colder winters. Annual rainfall varies from 575 mm in the
northwest to 470 mm in the southeast. During the frost-free period, 70%
of precipitation falls (maximum in July). By the end of winter, the
thickness of the snow cover reaches 0.3-0.7 m, the soils freeze to a
depth of 0.6-0.9 m.
The radiation balance for the Tula region is
about 40 kcal/cm2. Its territory is located in a zone where the
distribution of heat for evaporation and heating is uniform. To the
north, most of the solar radiation is spent on evaporation, to the south
- on heating.
Most often (60%) a year winds blow from the
continent and bring the corresponding air masses, the remaining share
(40%) falls on the sea. Air masses formed over the Atlantic Ocean bring
cloudy and rainy weather in summer, and thaws and snowfalls in winter.
Cold comes from the Arctic, which in winter is expressed in increased
frosts, in transitional seasons in frosts, returns of cold weather.
There are seven meteorological stations in the region (Tula,
Efremov, Volovo, Uzlovaya, Suvorov, Plavsk, Aleksin) of Roshydromet.
1,682 rivers and rivers flow in the region, both constantly flowing
and drying up, with a total length of 10,963 km. Rivers with a length of
less than 5 km predominate, which is about 77% of the total number of
watercourses. Most of the rivers (80%) belong to the Oka basin - the
largest and only navigable river in the region, a small part (20%) - to
the Don basin. The Oka flows along the western and northwestern
outskirts of the region; the main tributaries are Upa, Osetr, Zusha. In
the eastern part of the region there are sources and a section of the
upper reaches of the Don River; its main tributaries are the Nepryadva
and the Beautiful Mecha. The average density of the river network is 0.4
km/km². The total volume of surface water is 1.74 km³.
The rivers
are fed mainly by snow (60-80%) with the participation of rain and
ground feeding. All rivers of the region are characterized by
significant seasonal fluctuations in the water level and uneven flow
throughout the seasons. All rivers of the region belong to the flat
type. They have a calm current and a small fall. This is due to the fact
that the height difference between the sources and mouths of the rivers
is insignificant. The most full-flowing rivers are in spring, when they
provide about 75% of the annual flow. In summer, despite the increase in
precipitation, the flow decreases sharply, the rivers become shallow,
and the smallest rivers often dry up completely.
Almost all the
few lakes in the region by their origin are either river-type lakes or
karst-type lakes. The largest of them are Shilovskoye and Zhupel, of
karst origin. The largest reservoirs in the region are reservoirs, which
were created mainly for the water supply of industrial enterprises -
Pronskoye, Shatskoye, Cherepetskoye, Shchekinskoye and Lyubovskoye.
Artificial ponds are widespread, many of which were created in the
17th-18th centuries at metallurgical plants.
Floodplain swamps on
the territory of the Tula region occupy the largest area - up to 85% of
the total area of the region's swamps. Active swamping of the
floodplains and the formation of swamps is typical for the Don and its
tributary Nepryadva, as well as for the Upa, Oka and some of their
tributaries. The swamps are fed by wedged groundwater, as well as
alluvial (less often - deluvial) waters.
Occupying a transitional position from the forest to the steppe zone,
the Tula region is characterized by a complex soil cover. In the zone of
deciduous forests, gray forest soils predominate (33.9% of the
territory), which occupy wide watershed spaces. They occur mainly in the
central, northern, northeastern, western and southwestern parts of the
region - in the basin of the Oka River and its tributaries: Upa,
Vashany, Skniga, Besputy, Osetra. These soils were formed on heavy
mantle and moraine loams. The humus content in them is 2.3-6%, the
thickness of the humus layer is 25-45 cm.
Soddy-podzolic soils
(16%) are confined to the right bank of the Oka and its tributary, the
Upa, mainly in the western and northwestern parts of the region. The
humus reserve in these soils is 1.2-3.4%, the thickness of the humus
layer is 15-23 cm. Depending on the degree of manifestation of the
podzol-forming process, sod-podzolic soils are divided into 3 subtypes:
- strongly podzolic. The latter are of limited distribution in the
region. On the border with soddy-podzolic soils, light gray and gray
forest soils are common, on the border with chernozems - gray and dark
gray.
In the forest-steppe zone, the predominant type of soils
are podzolized and leached chernozems (46.4%), medium-humus (humus
content from 6 to 9%), medium-thick (humus horizon 60-80 cm). Their
soil-forming rock is carbonate loess-like loams. The most valuable are
the soils of the central floodplain (2.7% of the area), in which the
content of humus reaches 7%. Bog and semi-bog soils are also found in
river floodplains. Soil asymmetry is observed in the distribution of the
main zonal soils of the Tula region: soils change not from north to
south, but from west, northwest to east.
One of the negative
processes for the soils of the region is erosion. Its manifestation
largely depends on the degree and nature of economic development and
land use. As a result of human activity and geological processes (mainly
water activity), about 43% of the total area of agricultural land in the
Tula region is currently subject to intense erosion. In the Tula region,
about 88% of soils are acidic, of which 72% are agricultural land. All
these soils are in dire need of liming, but in recent years, work to
improve soil fertility has practically ceased. Due to a sharp decrease
in the volume of organic fertilizers, the rate of decrease in the humus
content in the soil has increased significantly.
In recent years,
the area of agricultural land has decreased by 19 thousand hectares, the
area of arable land - by 29 thousand hectares. The main reasons for the
decrease in the area of agricultural land are land acquisition for
non-agricultural purposes, overgrowing with shrubs and forests, and soil
erosion. Currently, anti-erosion measures in the region are carried out
in insignificant volumes. Exogenous geological processes are quite
widely manifested on the territory of the region. The dissolution of
limestone layers causes karst disturbances in the relief. Cases of soil
subsidence in the locations of old coal mines have become more frequent.
As a result of the Chernobyl disaster, soils on the area (in
thousand hectares) were contaminated with cesium-137: agricultural land,
in total - 870.2, including arable land - 729.9; hayfields and pastures
- 140.3. Like radiocesium, the distribution of heavy metals in soils is
uneven, there is spotting or a kind of mosaic, expressed in the
alternation of areas with different contents. Of all heavy metals, the
highest concentrations were noted for lead, copper, zinc, vanadium,
manganese, arsenic and some other elements.
In the flora of the Tula region, there are more than 1420 species of
vascular plants, of which about 1020 are native. The general list of
flora objects listed in the Red Book of the Tula Region consists of 293
species, including 158 species of vascular plants, 48 species of moss,
34 species of lichens, and 53 species of fungi. Specially protected
natural areas in the Tula region include 53 objects of regional
importance, including 50 natural monuments, 1 nature reserve, 1 natural
park and 1 specially protected natural area of local importance
(Malinovaya Zaseka). In addition, on the territory of the region there
is the "Likhvinsky cut" - a natural monument of the ice age deposits.
The total area of specially protected natural areas, including protected
zones, is 11,208.10 ha.
The diversity of the vegetation cover is
determined both by the landscape features and the position of the region
at the junction of two natural zones - the forest zone (broad-leaved
forest subzone in the western, northern and northeastern regions) and
the forest-steppe zone (southern and eastern regions). Forests occupy
about 386.6 thousand hectares or 14.3% of the territory, 283.0 thousand
hectares of forests make up the state forest fund, performing sanitary
and recreational functions. 27.12 million m of wood is suitable for
exploitation. The estimated cutting area is 471.8 thousand m and is used
by 25 - 30%.
In the center of the region, within the basins of
the Plava, Zushi, Upa, there is a forest-steppe region in which all
watershed areas are plowed up, and the forests are small in size and are
found mainly on the slopes of ravines in the form of birch groves or oak
forests. Due to livestock grazing, shrubs are practically absent, but
its fauna is rich in plants of chernozem soils: leafless iris, spring
adonis, kachim highest, hairy holly, hairy feather grass, spirea,
perennial flax, etc.
On the border with the forest-steppe there
is a strip of broad-leaved forests, known as the "Tula Zasek", which are
classified as especially valuable objects of nature with the appropriate
forest management regime in them. In the XVI-XVII centuries, the notches
served as the protection of the southern borders of the Russian state
and were under special protection. The predominant type of vegetation in
this area is the common oak, common ash, small-leaved linden, pine,
birch, aspen, poplar, maple, elm, and others.
Coniferous forests
are widespread in the north-west of the region. They are characterized
by sandy soils in river valleys, for example, Aleksin-Bor near the Oka
River, covering an area of 790 hectares. Among the shrubs in these
areas, juniper is common, and there are also lingonberries, blueberries,
and blueberries along the edges of the swamps.
In the south-east
of the region, massifs of broad-leaved forests (mainly oak forests) have
been preserved in the basin of the Mokraya Tabola River and along the
banks of the Beautiful Mecha. This area is characterized by plant
species distributed on rocky and rocky-scree outcrops of Devonian
limestones: Robertov's golokuchnik, protozoa protozoan, narrow-leaved
saltwort, squat skullcap, Alaunian cotoneaster, Don violet, silky
wormwood. In areas with a close occurrence of groundwater enriched with
salts, edible watercress, strawberry clover and sword grass are common.
In the eastern regions, the landscape of which was transformed as a
result of the extraction of coal and other minerals from the coal basin
near Moscow, almost no natural complexes have been preserved.
The Tula region is located on the border of the forest and
forest-steppe zones, which determines the features of the formation of
its animal world. However, at present, most of the natural habitats of
the Tula region have been heavily modified by humans, which could not
but have an impact on the local fauna.
Wolf, fox, elk, wild boar,
roe deer, otter, polecat, hare, squirrel, ground squirrel, European
mink, Canadian beaver, red evening and other species of animals are
found on the territory of the region. The region is inhabited by 200-250
species of birds, 163 species of which nest in the region, eight species
are found only in winter, 60 species during migration and seasonal
migrations. The most common are rooks, starlings, swallows, swifts,
sparrows, ducks, waders, partridges, magpies. In the reservoirs of the
region there are 38 species of fish, of which the most common are roach,
perch, bream, pike, burbot, white crucian carp, red crucian carp. Of the
reptiles, there are the viper, and the copperhead.
The Red Book
of Animals of the Tula Region (2013) includes 13 species of mammals, 56
species of birds, 4 species of reptiles, 3 species of amphibians, 4
species of fish and 2 species of cyclostomes, as well as 202 species of
invertebrates. At the same time, 39 species belong to the objects of the
animal world listed in the Red Book of Russia.
The area of forest
hunting grounds in recent years has increased from 381.5 thousand
hectares to 394.2 thousand hectares due to the overgrowth of previously
cultivated fields, pastures and hayfields with trees and shrubs. The
leading objects of sports and amateur hunting in the Tula region include
9 species of animals and birds - these are elk, wild boar, European roe
deer, fox, European hare, white hare, woodcock, gray partridge, ducks.
Public hunting grounds include 30 hunting grounds located on the
territory of 17 districts of the region, in which individuals have the
right to freely stay for the purpose of hunting.
The Tula region is one of the most industrial in the central region
of Russia. The region is characterized by a high level of air pollution,
the main part of the flowing rivers belongs to the classes of "polluted"
and "dirty", severe pollution of the territory after the accident at the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the state of about a third of all soils
in the region is close to catastrophic. According to the environmental
organization "Green Patrol", a number of cities in the Tula region are
among the most unfavorable cities in the Russian Federation.
The
Tula region, as a result of radioactive fallout after the accident at
the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, fell into the zone of
contamination with radionuclides, the half-life of which is up to 30
years. Of all the precipitated radionuclides, the main contribution to
the formation of the radiation situation was made in the initial period
by short-lived iodine-131, and in the subsequent period by cesium-134,
cesium-137 and, to a lesser extent, strontium-90. A radioactive cloud
spilled over 2036 settlements in Arsenyevsky, Plavsky, Shchekinsky,
Kireevsky, Teplo-Ogaryovsky, Uzlovsky, Belevsky and Novomoskovsky
districts. The total population of the Tula region, living on the
territory contaminated with cesium-137, amounted to over 900 thousand
people (an absolute record for Russia). At present, the indicators of
the radiation background are at the level of the average values of
long-term observations within the limits of natural fluctuations
characteristic of the middle latitudes of the European territory of
Russia and average 0.09 - 0.15 µSv/h.
As of January 1, 2021, the
amount of emissions of pollutants into the atmospheric air from
stationary sources amounted to 116 thousand tons, which is 30.5% less
than in 2010. The largest amount of harmful emissions is provided by
ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises. The second place in
terms of the scale of release of harmful substances into the atmosphere
is occupied by chemical industry enterprises. Mechanical engineering,
thermal power engineering and pollution from vehicles are in third
position. The most common substances in the list of air pollution
sources in the Tula region are gaseous substances: carbon monoxide,
nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and hydrocarbons.
The largest
amount of pollutants enters the atmosphere with emissions from
industrial enterprises of the urban district of the city of Tula - 60.76
thousand tons, which is 52.5% of the total emissions. The following in
terms of emissions are the urban district of the city of Novomoskovsk -
13.54 thousand tons (11.7% of the total emission) and the urban district
of the working settlement of Novogurovsky - 12.0 thousand tons (10.4% of
the total emission). The largest sources of emissions into the
atmosphere are: Tulachermet JSC, Shchekinoazot JSC, HeidelbergCement Rus
LLC, Cherepetskaya State District Power Plant named after D. G. Zhimerin
branch of JSC INTER RAO - Electric Power Generation, JSC NAK Azot, PJSC
" Kosogorsky metallurgical plant.
Within the framework of the
national project "Ecology" in the Tula region, four main programs are
being implemented aimed at eliminating the already accumulated
environmental damage, creating an industrial complex for processing,
recycling and disposing of municipal solid waste, protecting forests and
creating specially protected natural areas. The amount of recycled and
neutralized production and consumption waste from 2010 to 2021 increased
by 7.7 times - from 1066 to 8211 thousand tons. The discharge of
polluted wastewater over the same period decreased by 1.5 times - from
196 to 135 million m³. Agreements have been concluded with large
industrial enterprises on the implementation of environmental protection
measures to minimize the discharge of waste into the environment. In
addition, activities are planned in the Tula region to clear the entire
Don River, which will be completed in 2030. The work began in 2019 and
the clearing of the Oka River in Belev and the Upa River in Odoev has
already been completed. It is planned to clear the Upa River in Tula,
raise the level of the channel and build new treatment facilities.
The early settlement of the territory of the Tula region is
associated with the end of the Paleolithic (about the 10th millennium
BC). Also found are Mesolithic (VIII-VI millennium BC) and Neolithic
(V-III millennium BC) sites, as well as Bronze Age settlements (III-II
millennium BC).
In the early Iron Age (I millennium BC), the
tribes of the Upper Oka archaeological culture appeared.
Over
time, people from the territory of the river basin. The gums influenced
the development of the local population and formed a new culture by the
4th century AD. e. "Moshchinskaya" (the name is given in the place in
the Kaluga region, where the settlement was first excavated) - in terms
of language, its representatives were, in all likelihood, the Balts. The
easternmost grouping of the Balts, which occupied in the IV-VII
centuries. n. e. the basin of the upper Oka and the upper reaches of the
Dnieper, in ancient times it was called golyad.
To replace the
Balts around the 8th century AD. e. The Slavic tribe of the Vyatichi
came to the Tula region. Like the golyad, the Vyatichi were good
metallurgists and blacksmiths. Archaeologists discovered sites (VII-IX
centuries, mainly in the southern part of the settlement of the Slavic
ethnic group), where the number of stoves reached 25-30. Vyatichi became
part of the Old Russian state. At the beginning of the 10th century
(907), the Vyatichi took part in the campaign of Prince Oleg against
Tsargrad.
In 910-915, the Suprut settlement on the Upa River was
destroyed. In 981 and 982, Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich fought with the
Vyatichi. A century later (1082-1083), Vladimir Monomakh went “to
Vyatichi”, which he himself mentioned in his teaching to his sons.
After the collapse of the united Old Russian state, the
Vladimir-Suzdal and Chernigov princes entered the struggle for the lands
of the Vyatichi. Negotiations with the elders of the Vyatichi (a tribe
that has preserved the remnants of the tribal organization of society
for so long) are conducted by the founder of Moscow, Prince Yuri
Dolgoruky. But in the end, the territory of the region goes to the
Chernigov princes. At this time (XII century) the Christianization of
the region began. The pagans did not accept the preaching of the monk
Kuksha and killed him. The city of Lopasnya stood on the border of
Suzdal and Chernihiv lands. Within the borders of the Chernigov
principality, by the middle of the 12th century, the specific
principalities of Belevskoe, Novosilskoe, Odoevskoe, Tarusskoe stood
out. Aleksin belonged to the Tarusa principality from the end of the
13th century. The structure of the same principality included the
specific principality of Volkonskoe (From the ancient family of which,
by the way, the mother of Leo Tolstoy came).
The smoothing of
tribal features led to the disappearance of the tribal name Vyatichi by
the 13th century.
Tula in the middle of the XIV century was "in
charge of the Baskaks" of the Tatar queen Taidula.
In 1380, in
the southeastern part of the modern region, at the confluence of the
Nepryadva River with the Don, the historical Battle of Kulikovo took
place, which marked the beginning of the liberation of Russian lands
from the Horde yoke. Separated from Chernigov, the Belevsky Principality
gravitated towards Moscow, but later it went to the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania, Russian, Zhemoytsky and others.
In 1503, the Tula
lands were annexed to the Moscow Grand Duchy.
In 1382, in a treaty charter between the Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy
and the Ryazan prince Oleg, Tula belonged to the Moscow principality.
But for a long time the princes of Ryazan still claimed it, to which
after half a century (in 1432) she moved away. Only the hoards of Horde
coins (they were found in the vicinity of Tula) and, perhaps, the names
of ancient villages: Baskakovo, Yakshino, Yamnoye, remind of the cruel
conquerors.
In the XVI-XVII centuries, the Tula land was the
outskirts of the Muscovite state, which was constantly subjected to
Crimean-Nogai raids from the south. To protect against these raids, the
Great Barrier was organized, which included 40 cities. Among them, one
can distinguish Likhvin, Belev, Venev, Krapivna, Odoev, who had
fortifications even before the 16th century. They became strongholds
with the defense system of the Zasechnaya line.
Tula was first mentioned in the Nikon chronicle under 1146, when
describing the campaign of Prince Svyatoslav on the way from Kozelsk to
Ryazan. However, at the present stage, researchers argue that the first
mention, more reliable, can be considered an agreement between the
Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy and the Ryazan prince Oleg of 1382.
In 1507, the Brief Cyril-Beloozersky chronicler reports: "A stone city
was set up on Tula." However, in reality, in 1507, an oak fortress
(fort) was founded, and in 1514, inside this fortress, the “stone city”
was the Tula Kremlin, which was built by 1520.
In the 12th
century, the city of Dedoslavl appeared (presumably the modern village
of Dedilovo in the Kireevsky district) - a fortified craft and trade
center, a gathering place for the elders of the Vyatichi.
Belev
was first mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle in 1147. In the 16th
century, under the specific prince Vasily Romanovich, an oak fortress
was built, on the approaches to which the Oka with scree and a deep
artificial ditch served as a natural barrier.
Aleksin was founded
in the 13th century (in 1236 it was called the city of Metropolitan
Peter) on the right elevated bank of the Oka, on both sides of the river
Mordovka flowing into it.
Venev under the name of the village was
mentioned in the XIV century, and as a city it was first mentioned in
the annals in 1494. In 1571, the oldest description of the fortress was
compiled, which testified to the military purpose of the fortified
settlement.
Likhvin has been known since 1565. According to
legend, it existed before the invasion of the Tatars in the 13th
century, who, for desperate resistance, gave it the name Dashing. At the
end of the 16th century, it was part of the Zasechnaya line, it was the
center of the Likhvinsky Zasek. The city was surrounded by an oak wall
and four blind towers. Likhvin was renamed Chekalin in 1944.
Krapivna was first mentioned in the will of Dmitry Donskoy, who gave it
to his wife Evdokia. It is known that from the end of the 16th century
Krapivna became one of the fortresses of the Zasechnaya line. In 1641,
the Efremov fortress was built south of Epifan.
Bogoroditsk was
founded in the spring of 1663 as a fortress to protect against the raids
of the Crimean Tatars.
According to the first division of Russia into provinces in 1708, the
current cities of the Tula province were distributed as follows: Tula,
Aleksin, Bogoroditsk, Venev, Epifan, Kashira and Krapivna entered the
Moscow province, Belev and Novosil - in Kiev, Efremov and Chern - in
Azov and Odoev in the Smolensk province. In 1719, the Tula province was
formed with the cities of Tula, Aleksin, Bogoroditsky, Venev, Epifan and
Krapivnaya; the cities of Belev, Novosil and Chern entered the Oryol
province, Efremov entered the Yelets province, Kashira entered the
Moscow province, and Odoev withdrew to the Kaluga province.
On
March 9, 1777, the Tula province was formed. The governor of Kaluga,
Krechetnikov, took up the organization of the province. On September 19,
1777, the Tula vicegerency was formed. In 1796 the governorship was
abolished, but the province was preserved. The Tula Regional Museum of
Local Lore has a special boundary sign installed on the border of the
Moscow and Tula provinces, on which the date is indicated: “1777”.
The industrial development of the region began in the 17th century.
In 1694-1695, the Tula blacksmith Nikita Demidov built his first
ironworks at the mouth of the Tulitsa River. This was a big step in the
development of metallurgical business in Tula. The city became one of
the centers of Russian metallurgy and metalworking. In 1712, by decree
of Peter I, the Imperial Tula Arms Factory was founded in Tula, which
produced first-class weapons for the Russian army.
At the end of
the 18th century, the production of samovars, gingerbread, and harmonica
was developed in Tula.
With the commissioning of the Malevskaya
Mine (south of Bogoroditsk) in 1855, regular coal mining began in the
Moscow Region Basin, the oldest coal-producing region in Russia, whose
deposits were discovered as early as 1722 by serfs I. Palitsyn and M.
Titov. The development of industry in the region was facilitated by the
construction of the Moscow-Kursk railway in 1864-1868 and the
Syzran-Vyazma railway in 1870-1874.
By the Decree of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive
Committee “On the formation on the territory of the RSFSR of
administrative-territorial associations of regional and regional
significance” dated January 14, 1929, from October 1, 1929, the Tula
province was abolished. The Tula District was formed as part of the
Central Industrial Region (since June 3, 1929 - the Moscow Region) with
the center in the city of Moscow. On July 23, 1930, the Tula District
was abolished, and its districts became directly subordinate to the
Moscow Region. The Tula region was formed on September 26, 1937, when
the Moscow region was subdivided.
During the Great Patriotic War
on the territory of the Tula region from September to December 1941
there were fierce battles with the Nazi invaders as part of the Tula
defensive operation. For the courage and steadfastness shown by the
defenders of Tula during the heroic defense of the city, which played an
important role in the defeat of enemy troops near Moscow, Tula was
awarded the honorary title of "Hero City".
On December 27, 1957,
the Tula region was awarded the Order of Lenin for the successes
achieved in increasing production and delivering agricultural products
to the state.
In the postwar years, the machine-building,
chemical, metallurgical, and coal industries were further developed in
the Tula region. Research institutes and design bureaus were
established.
In 1986, the Tula region suffered greatly as a
result of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The lands
were contaminated with radioactive fallout and became unsuitable for
agricultural use on an area of 11.8 thousand km², which amounted to
about half (46.8%) of the region's territory. The density of radioactive
contamination of the soil with caesium-137 averaged from 1 to 15 Ci/km².
27% of the lands of forest plots as part of the lands of the forest fund
were subjected to radioactive contamination. The area of forest
contamination with cesium-137 radionuclides is 78.388 thousand ha.
According to some reports, the city of Plavsk still has an increased
radiation background of about 20 microroentgens per hour.
In
1997, 1306 settlements of the Tula region were within the boundaries of
radioactive contamination zones due to the accident at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant. In 2015, in the Tula region, the number of
settlements within the boundaries of the zones of radioactive
contamination decreased to 1215, of which 27 are located in the zone of
residence with the right to resettlement and 1188 - in the zone with a
preferential socio-economic status.
Tula dialects belong to the southern Russian dialect and are
widespread in most of the Tula region, the north-eastern part of the
Kaluga region, as well as in the Moscow and Lipetsk regions bordering
the Tula region. Modern dialect division allows us to consider them
interzonal dialects, or transitional type dialects. Such originality of
the Tula group in modern dialect division is an indicator of its
intermediate position between the south-eastern dialect zone and the
south-western dialect zone. In addition, the Tula dialects are to a
certain extent under the influence of the dialects of the center.
The following dialect phenomena are characteristic of the Tula
dialects: moderate yakanye; genitive and dative forms of personal and
reflexive pronouns menê, tebê, sebê with possible dative forms mnê,
tebê, sebê; absence of any traces of distinction between the phonemes
/о/ and /ô/, /е/ and /ê/; pronunciation of the word де́вер’ with the
stressed е́.
Russian traditional culture has been preserved in the Tula region
mainly in the form of song folklore. The regional song tradition,
according to the composition of genres existing on its territory,
musical style, features of the dialect and costume complex, occupies an
intermediate position between the southern Russian and central Russian
traditions. Most of the song folklore of the Tula region is made up of
round dance, epic, lyrical, wedding and family-everyday genres. Lyrical
songs are most widely represented in the system of genres of the song
tradition of the region, most of which are not clearly associated with
any calendar periods or dates. The central element of the genre system
are game round dance songs with aleleshny refrains (refrain with the
words leli-leli).
In the Tula region, active research work is
being carried out to study and preserve folklore rituals and individual
genres of song folklore of the Tula region. Folklore and ethnographic
expeditions are systematically conducted in the Odoevsky, Belevsky,
Chernsky, Suvorovsky, Arsenyevsky, Dubensky, Venevsky districts, thanks
to which rich song and ethnographic material, samples of old household
utensils, and folk women's costume have been collected. More than 100
folklore groups with a total of more than 1,000 participants work in the
region.
Local folklore traditions form the basis of a number of
festivals held in the Tula Region, including the Krapivna Festival in
Krapivna, the Twelve Keys Festival in the Venevsky District, the
Dedoslavl Folk Culture Festival in the village of Dedilovo, the Bylina
Folk Traditions Festival on Kulikovo Field, the Songs of Bezhin Meadow
literary and song festival in the Bezhin Meadow Museum-Reserve, the Tula
Zaigray Traditional Folk Culture Festival-Competition in Tula, and
others. Despite this, the Tula Region has not created a complete card
index of lexical units found in the works of Tula song folklore, the
manifestations of phonetic, grammatical, and dialectal features have not
been studied, and its genre and stylistic originality has not been fully
studied.
There are 44 folk crafts and trades in the Tula Region, in which more than 1,000 masters of decorative and applied arts work. The most famous of them are of tourist interest - artistic decoration of hunting weapons, samovar and accordion production, production of Tula gingerbread, Filimonovo and Tula city toys, Belev pastila, Belev lace and Venev bagels. To popularize folk crafts and trades in the region, various festivals are held, including the festival of pottery and clay toys "Tales of Grandfather Filimon", the interregional holiday "Songs of Bezhin Meadow", the Epifanskaya Fair, the international festival "12 Keys", the nettle festival and others. A large role in popularizing folk traditions is given to the regional museums of local history, where entire exhibitions are dedicated to them. In 2012, a museum of decorative and applied and folk art was opened in Tula, which is currently located on Metallistov Street in the museum quarter. The "Association of Centers for the Development of Art, Folk Culture and Tourism" in Tula is also working in this direction, on the basis of which the "Dobrodey" craft yard operates, created in the form of exhibition areas and settlements with workshops according to the customs of ancient Rus'.
There are about 25 regional gastronomic brands in the Tula region,
the most recognizable of which are Tula gingerbread and Belyov pastila.
Other notable dishes include the Ankovskiy pie of the Tolstoy family,
nettle cuisine (tea, pies, cabbage soup) from the village of Krapivna,
the Venevka bun, the Uzelki cookies from Uzlovaya, and the Kulikovo Pole
herbal tea. This gastronomic identity served as the basis for the
development of gastronomic tourism and the emergence of themed events
held in the region: the Venevskie Baranki folk art festival in Venev,
the international Nettle festival in Krapivna, the Yablochnoye Chudo
gastronomic festival in Belyov, and the Gingerbread Day gastronomic
festival in Tula.
Since 2021, the Levshinsky Obed historical and
gastronomic festival has been held in the Tula region. The set menu is
based on the book "Russian Cookery" by the Tula scientist and
encyclopedist Vasily Levshin, one of the founders of culinary literature
in Russia. Chefs of restaurants in Tula and the region rethink recipes
and create dishes in a modern key while preserving the historical basis.
Since 2023, a large festival of new Tula cuisine has been held in Tula
in the creative industrial cluster "Octava", within the framework of
which participants present restaurant concepts and trendy menus of Tula
from local restaurateurs. In May 2022, a guide to the best gastronomic
places in Tula and the Tula region was presented, the author of which
was the journalist and TV presenter Nika Ganich. The guide "Geography to
taste. Tula" covered restaurants, gastrobistros and bars, agricultural
farms and country restaurants with authentic local cuisine. At the end
of the 20th — beginning of the 21st century, the staff of the Kulikovo
Field Museum-Reserve organized ethnographic expeditions to the
settlements of Kulikovo Field, which allowed them to document
19th-century recipes, data on traditional crops grown by the residents
of Kulikovo Field, as well as methods of processing and using them. This
information formed the basis of Tatyana Naumova's book "Kulikovo Field
Kitchen, or Bread on the Table", which contains recipes for dishes such
as yurma soup, kalabya flatbread, spelt porridge with mushrooms,
buckwheat pancakes, tyanki and vitamin uzvar. Based on this book, the
eponymous gastronomic project of the Kulikovo Field Museum-Reserve was
developed, recognized in 2023 as one of the best in the field of tourism
at the XVIII RuPoR PR award.
As of the beginning of 2023, there are 3,989 cultural heritage sites
in the Tula Region, of which: 334 are of federal significance (including
138 archaeological sites), 861 are of regional significance, and 2,794
are identified cultural heritage sites (including 2,236 identified
archaeological sites). In 2015, the Tula Region was ranked eighth in the
list of the National Cultural Heritage Index by Russian regions. At the
same time, the state of preservation of a number of sites is extremely
poor - many estates and ancient temples in the region are abandoned and
falling into disrepair, historically significant architectural sites are
often demolished, which causes outrage among activists. The share of
cultural heritage sites in municipal ownership and requiring
conservation or restoration is 30.4% of their total number.
The
objects of intangible cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia include
pottery in the Tula settlement of Bol'shiye Gonchary, the technology of
molding and painting Filimonovo toys, and the technology of weaving
Belyov lace.
In the region, the dynamics of provision with cultural institutions
remains positive, despite the reduction of the network in a number of
districts. This reduction mainly occurred in settlements with a
population of 100 to 200 people, which did not affect the overall
indicator of provision of the population with cultural institutions. In
these small settlements, services are provided to residents by mobile
cultural centers (auto clubs). Currently, 7 districts have auto clubs:
Venevsky, Kamensky, Kimovsky, Kireevsky, Kurkinsky, Odoevsky and
Uzlovsky.
One of the main problems in the cultural sphere in the
municipalities of the Tula region is the need to strengthen the material
and technical base of municipal cultural institutions. The share of
municipal cultural institutions whose buildings are in a state of
disrepair or require major repairs in the total number of municipal
cultural institutions at the end of 2022 was 17.23% (in 2021 - 17.85%).
This is mostly due to the physical aging of cultural facilities.
The Tula Region is one of the leading regions in the development of
museum affairs in Russia, and is one of the "big three museum regions of
the country" after Moscow and St. Petersburg in terms of the number of
museums, primarily at the federal level. The museum network of the Tula
Region is represented by five federal museums (with 11 branches,
including: a branch of the State Historical Museum, the Tula Museum of
Weapons, the L. N. Tolstoy Museum-Estate "Yasnaya Polyana", the Kulikovo
Field Museum-Reserve, and the V. D. Polenov Museum-Estate), two state
museums (with 22 branches), twenty-two municipal (with 9 branches), and
private and departmental museums. In total, more than 100 museums
operate in the region. Federal, state, and municipal museums contain
more than 430 thousand museum items from the main collection.
In
2020, as part of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the
construction of the Tula Kremlin, the Museum Quarter was opened in Tula.
It is based on branches of federal museums: the State Historical Museum,
the L. N. Tolstoy Museum-Estate "Yasnaya Polyana", the Kulikovo Field
Museum-Reserve and the V. D. Polenov Museum-Estate. In addition, the
historical and ethnographic complex "Siege Yards of the 16th-17th
Centuries" and an archaeological window on the site of the old
Assumption Cathedral of the 17th century were opened on the territory of
the Tula Kremlin. In the same year, two new museums were opened at once
in the historical settlement of Krapivna: the first in Russia Museum of
Zemstvo and Urban History (a branch of the L. N. Tolstoy Museum-Estate
"Yasnaya Polyana") and the Museum of Russian and Contemporary Art based
on the house of the merchant Pryanchikov (a branch of the Tula Museum of
Fine Arts). Among the private museums opened in the region in recent
years, the most notable are the Machine Tool Museum and the Accordion
Museum of Grandfather Filimon in Tula, the private antique collection of
samovars of Mikhail Borshchev in Grumant, and the Soviet toy museum "In
Childhood" in Odoyev.
The Tula Region is the only subject of
Russia where work is being carried out on the museumification of railway
stations. Over the past few years, work has been carried out to revive
and museumify 15 railway stations, including "Kozlova Zaseka" near
Yasnaya Polyana, Skuratovo, "Tarusskaya", "Zhdanka", "Uzlovaya" and
"Belev".
Since 2019, the Tula Region has been a participant in
the "Revival of Historical Estates" project of the national project
"Culture", aimed at bringing the region's historical estates to a proper
technical condition while preserving the cultural and historical value
of the object, its authenticity. In 2020, for three cultural heritage
sites: the Kuldzhinsky Estate and the Former Paskhalov Estate in the
Aleksinsky District, as well as the Maltsev Estate Ensemble in the
Dubensky District, draft restoration projects were developed and a
search for potential investors began.
In 2022, the village of
Monastyrshchino, as part of the Kulikovo Pole Museum-Reserve, was
awarded the National Prize in the field of event tourism "Russian Event
Awards 2022" in the nomination "Best natural and recreational area for
holding a tourist event".
There are 5 state theatre and concert institutions in the Tula Region: the Tula Regional Philharmonic, the Tula Academic Drama Theatre named after M. Gorky, the Tula Regional Theatre for Young Spectators, the Tula Puppet Theatre and the Novomoskovsk Drama Theatre named after V. M. Kachalin. The advantage of this type of theatre is that performances are staged almost daily, while the disadvantage is that they are too heavily focused on entertainment, with comedies making up 70% of the entire repertoire. There are no permanent opera or ballet theatres in the region (operas and operettas can occasionally be seen at one-off performances at the Philharmonic). There are a number of municipal theatres in the Tula Region: the Hermitage Russian Drama Theatre, the Blue Bird Educational Folk Theatre of the Tula Regional College of Culture and Arts and the U Gashi Theatre in Bogoroditsk. The oldest private theater is the Tula Chamber Drama Theater, which appeared in 1999. The direction of baby performances is represented by the family theater "Lev Nikolaevich", located in Tula. In addition, part of the theatrical life of the region are tours of permanent theaters of Russia and neighboring countries. A number of theater festivals are held in the Tula region. The largest is the international festival of street theaters "Theater Yard", which has been held in Tula since 2008 and in its content is a performance of street theaters from various regions of Russia. Another major theatrical event is the international theatrical open-air festival "Tolstoy", which has been held on the territory of the Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate "Yasnaya Polyana" since 2016. The main events are full-fledged multi-hour performances, one way or another connected with the figure of the writer. Smaller theatre festivals include "Fedotovskaya Vesna", held in the birthplace of actress Glikerya Fedotova in the Yasnogorsk district, and "Theater on the Lawn" in Polenovo.
At the beginning of 2023, there were 395 public libraries in the Tula
region, including 3 regional libraries, which were united in 2019 into
the Regional Library and Information Complex, and 398 municipal
libraries. 24 libraries have the status of central, 26 libraries as part
of library systems are specialized, serving children. Most municipal
libraries are located in rural areas (74%), while 60 libraries are
structural divisions of cultural and leisure institutions. The
Novogurovsky working settlement, the city of Donskoy, Odoevsky,
Belevsky, Plavsky, Chernsky, Kireevsky, Kamensky, Kurkinsky, Uzlovsky
and Dubensky districts are fully provided with libraries, according to
the standards. The lowest value of this indicator is in Tula (57%) and
Suvorovsky district (69%).
In 2020, the first model libraries
created within the framework of the national project "Culture" appeared
in the Tula region - the Central Model Library named after M. Yu.
Lermontov in Yefremov and the Pervomayskaya Model Rural Library No. 31
in the Novomoskovsky Urban District. By 2024, 11 model libraries have
been created in the Tula region, which are located in the cities of
Novomoskovsk, Yefremov and Suvorov, and the settlements of Torkhovo,
Novolvovsk, Cherepet, Pervomaysky, Kamenetsky and the city of Suvorov.
At the beginning of 2023, there were 368 club-type institutions operating in the Tula region.
At the beginning of 2023, there were 13 parks of culture and recreation operating in the Tula region, the largest of which is the Central Park of Culture and Recreation named after P. P. Belousov in Tula.
In the Tula province, construction of a stone building for the
archive at the provincial chancery began in the late 1750s. Not only
documents of the provincial government, but also of other institutions
(the provincial chancery, the court of conscience, the weapons chancery,
and others) were sent for storage to this archive. The most active
acquisition of the provincial archive took place in late 1783-1784.
Currently, there are 24 municipal and 1 state archive in the Tula
region, which store 3,265,429 files, which is one of the highest figures
in the Central Federal District. The state archive ensures the safety of
74% of the region's archival fund, municipal archives - 26%.
The
State Institution "State Archives of the Tula Region" was formed on
September 1, 2009, by merging three state archives: the State Archives
of the Tula Region, the Center for Contemporary History of the Tula
Region and the Center for Personnel Documentation of the Tula Region.
The archive is the center for storing scientific and cultural values
reflecting the history of political, socio-economic and cultural
development of the Tula Region and partially neighboring regions. The
archive contains 2,511,459 storage units (including 25,997 photo
documents and 54,344 temporary storage files) from 1582 to the present,
which are located in five archives of two settlements (the cities of
Tula and Donskoy). The State Archive is working on creating an automated
scientific reference apparatus and digitizing documents. Priority is
given to digitizing especially valuable documents and creating an
electronic use fund. The total percentage of digitalization of the Tula
region archival fund is 2.2% (about 4 million files).
In the 14th-15th centuries, the eastern regions of the Tula region
were influenced by the architecture of the Ryazan principality. In the
15th century, the Venev-Nikolsky Monastery was founded on the Osetr
River, which is currently the oldest in the region. The monastery's
stone two-story Nikolo-Uspensky Church (1669-1701) has been preserved
almost in its original form. In the west of the region, on the
territories of the Verkhovskiye principalities, the ramparts of ancient
Odoyev (14th century) and the Pokrovsky Dobry Monastery (1477) near the
village of Dobroye in the Suvorovsky District with the Church of the
Intercession of the Holy Mother of God, built in 1677 (the oldest
functioning Orthodox church in the region) have been preserved.
The oldest stone structure in the region that has survived to this day
is the Tula Kremlin, built in 1514-1520. There are also remains of
earthen fortifications of the Great Abatis Line (1521-1566) in Venev,
the village of Bolshaya Zvoyka, and the villages of Krapivna and
Petrovskoye.
Russian Patterns
Until the mid-17th century,
church architecture was exclusively wooden. The earliest surviving
churches date back to the 17th century and are of the Moscow posad type
with a tier of semicircular kokoshniks:
Church of the Icon of the
Mother of God "Hodegetria" in the village of Gorodenets (1640-1650)
Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Nikolo-Gastun
(1660)
Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God in the
village of Temryan (1667-1695)
Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in
the village of Krasino-Uberezhnoye (1674)
Church of the Entry of the
Holy Mother of God into the Temple in the village of Myasoedovo (1681)
Old Cathedral of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God in Aleksin
(1688)
Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of
Kochaki (1690-1710)
Annunciation Church in Tula (1692)
Church of
the Life-Giving Trinity in the village of Snykhovo (1709)
Baroque
From the beginning of the 17th century, the most widespread type of
Baroque churches was the octagon on the quadrangle:
Kazan Church in
the village of Pershino (1696)
Church of the Nativity of the Virgin
Mary in the village of Obidimo (1700s)
Epiphany Church in the village
of Krasnoye (1713-1728)
Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in
the village of Velegozh (1731)
Resurrection Church in the village of
Markovo (second half of the 17th century)
Church of the Icon of the
Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" in the village of Vyazovna (1770)
An independent type is represented by Baroque churches in the form
of a cross:
Church of Alexander of Cyprus in the village of Chentsovo
(1758)
Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in village of
Zherdevo (1764)
Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in
the village of Bolsho Skuratovo (1767)
The Nikolskaya Church in
Krapivna with a triconch plan was built in the spirit of Elizabethan
Baroque (1759-1764). One of the most expressive Baroque bell towers is
the 5-tiered one in the village of Novoye Pavshino (1731). Baroque
features were preserved in church architecture until the beginning of
the 19th century (Spasskaya Church in the village of Ushakovo, 1795).
The only church in the Tula region with an 8-petal plan is the
Nikolskaya Church in the village of Rudnevo (1755). The only monument of
stone civil architecture of the late Middle Ages (17th - early 18th
centuries) are the Stone Chambers in the city of Venev.
Nothing has survived in the Tula region from the buildings with a
nailless or samtsovaya roof, which were made of logs and hewn boards,
that were dominant until the second half of the 18th century. Fires
contributed to the destruction of wooden buildings, especially in large
cities. Fires in June and September 1834 virtually wiped out all wooden
houses in Tula. Many wooden buildings also disappeared due to urban
redevelopment at the end of the 18th century.
Currently, the most
interesting objects of wooden architecture are located in Tula, but
their number is gradually decreasing, which leads to the loss of the
historical appearance of the city and the region. The oldest wooden
house is most likely the mansion at 7 Oruzheynaya Street, with a
mezzanine rising in the middle under a triangular pediment and a
semicircular dormer window. The simple but elegant decor of the house is
maintained in a classical style. The building was constructed after the
fire of 1834 and placed on the preserved ground floor made of limestone
slabs. During the poor-quality restoration in the 2000s, its appearance
was almost completely destroyed.
Eclecticism in wooden
architecture is represented in the house of the manufacturer Shamarin
(Lunacharsky Street, No. 44), which combines the main volume of the
building, executed in the classical style, divided into three parts by
rusticated pilasters, and a turret with a barrel, executed in the Old
Russian manner, placed above the entrance. The two-story wooden house
No. 27 from the end of the 19th century on Bundurin Street is
interesting for its arched entrance solution. Another interesting
example of urban wooden architecture were double huts, which were two
connected log houses, each of which had its own roof. As a rule, the low
log house faced the red line of the street, and the main, higher one,
was located in the depths of the site. Similar houses have been
preserved in Tula on Zhukovsky Street (No. 10, 12, 28).
There are
also mixed wooden and stone buildings, such as the currently existing
large two-story house No. 47 on Gogolevskaya Street. The right wing of
its facade is made of horizontally laid boards, and the left is brick,
plastered. An example of wooden Art Nouveau is the ensemble of buildings
28-28a on Bundurina Street. They have a complex entrance design typical
of Art Nouveau, and door frames with round caps, smoothly expanding
downwards. The facade of the main building (house 28) is currently
disfigured by the addition of a second floor. The surviving wooden fund
of the city is still quite extensive, but is decreasing every year.
Among the monuments of wooden architecture located in the region,
the most interesting is the Mosolov mansion, located in Dubna. The house
was built in 1828 by order of Pyotr Ivanovich Mosolov, who owned a local
iron foundry. The ground floor of the building was made of brick, and
the two upper floors and the attic were made of wood. Cast iron elements
were widely used in the decoration of the columns and railings.
In the village of Epifan, there is the Church of St. Demetrius of
Thessaloniki (1797) - the only partially preserved wooden church of
pre-revolutionary construction.
Despite the large number of monuments of church architecture of the 17th-20th centuries, most of them are abandoned and in ruins. In some settlements, attempts are being made to restore them, however, without proper inspection for the protection of cultural heritage sites, these works are carried out with gross violations: facades are plastered, decor is knocked down or covered over, elements are restored in simplified forms from low-quality materials. The most striking examples of such restoration are the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bolshoye Skuratovo (1767), the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Savino (1770), the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Obidimo (1700-1709) and the Church of St. Demetrius of Rostov in Dmitrievsky (1790-1813). At the same time, there are also examples of successful restoration of monuments, such as the Nativity of the Mother of God Anastasov Monastery (1673) and the Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Epifani (1680-1720).
The population of the Tula region, according to the Federal State
Statistics Service, as of January 1, 2022 (taking into account the
results of the 2021 census) was 1,479,294 people, including urban -
1,097,096 people (73.3%), rural - 399,594 people ( 26.7%. The female
population of the total population of the region was 820,019 people
(54.8%), and the male population was 676,671 people (46.2%). The
population density is 55.7 people / km² (excluding the results of the
2021 census).
The Tula-Novomoskovsk agglomeration was formed in
the region, with a population of more than 1 million people. There are
19 cities in the region, the largest of which, in addition to Tula and
Novomoskovsk, are cities with a population of over 50 thousand people:
Donskoy, Aleksin, Shchekino.
In the national composition, the
absolute majority are Russians (94.10%), and the remaining groups are
represented mainly by Armenians (0.70%), Tajiks (0.46%), Ukrainians
(0.44%), Uzbeks (0.39% ), Azerbaijanis (0.33%) and Tatars (0.31%).
As of January 1, 2022, 5,379 disabled children and 138,085 disabled
people over 18 live in the Tula region, which is about 10.1% of the
total population of the region. The number of pensioners in the region
for the same period is 508.7 thousand people, that is, 35.5% of the
total population, the average size of pensions for which is 16,655.5
rubles. In the Tula region, since 2013, the number of orphans and
children left without parental care has decreased by 1.6 times, and as
of January 1, 2022, 3,211 people live in the region. The share of
children in this category in the total child population in the Tula
region at the beginning of 2022 is 1.32%. As of January 1, 2022, 87.5%
of orphans out of the total number of children in this category are
being raised in foster families. The transfer of children for upbringing
in families contributes to a reduction in the number of children
registered in the state data bank on children, which has decreased by
3.6 times since 2013.
Until 2018, in the Tula region, there was a
migration increase in the population from the subjects of Russia and the
CIS countries, which by 2022 began to decline annually. In 2021, 24,616
migrants arrived in the region, including 9,246 from neighboring
countries (Tajikistan, Ukraine, Armenia, Uzbekistan).
The current
age and sex structure of the population in the Tula region can be
assessed as uniquely bad in terms of its impact on demographic dynamics.
This uniqueness lies in the fact that it simultaneously contributes to a
decrease in the number of births (the active reproductive age includes
small generations born in the 1990s) and an increase in the number of
deaths (the age limit of 75 years in the coming years will be overcome
by relatively large generations of those born in the post-war years ),
that is, it negatively affects the natural population growth on both
sides. In addition to the demographic consequences, the increase in the
number and proportion of the elderly population increases the burden on
health, social security and social services.
Of the urban
districts, the relatively young age structure of the population is in
Donskoy, and of the municipal districts, in Plavsky and Chernsky. On the
contrary, there are high rates of population aging in Aleksin and
Efremov, Dubensky, Kimovsky, Kurkinsky and especially Suvorovsky
districts.
The Tula region is one of the regions with a high natural population
decline, which is primarily due to the age structure of the population:
a third of the region's residents are of retirement age. From 2010 to
2021, the population of the region decreased by 117.7 thousand people
(7.6%). The migration increase, which at the end of 2021 amounted to
3,951 people, does not compensate for the natural population decline,
which amounted to 20.5 thousand people over the same period.
The
overall birth rate in the Tula region has been declining in recent
years, both under the influence of a decrease in age and total fertility
rates, and due to a decrease in the proportion of women of active
reproductive age. At the end of 2021, the birth rate in the region was
7.0 births per 1,000 inhabitants.
The region is characterized by
a high mortality rate against the background of low life expectancy.
Life expectancy at birth in 2021 is 69 years, with males at 64 and
females at 74. This indicator has significantly decreased compared to
2019, when life expectancy was 72.2 years. The number of registered
deaths in 2021 was 21.3 per 1,000 inhabitants, which resulted in a
natural population decline of −14.2 per 1,000 inhabitants.
The
main causes of death, as in the rest of Russia, are diseases of the
circulatory system - this is about half of all registered deaths (Tula
region 43.5%, Russia - 46.7%). The Tula region is one of the five
regions with the highest mortality from oncology, and the region is also
characterized by relatively high mortality rates from diseases of the
endocrine system, respiratory organs, digestive organs and from external
causes (traffic injuries, accidental alcohol poisoning, suicides). In
the Tula region, as in the whole country, the proportion of the
population of working age continues to decline and the proportion of the
population younger and older than working age is increasing. Predictive
calculations based on the hypothesis of maintaining the same
age-specific fertility, mortality and migration growth rates show that
under these conditions, the proportion of the working-age population may
decrease by 2025 to 52.6%. According to the operational headquarters,
5,266 people died from COVID-19 in the Tula region during the pandemic.
In 2021, 8828 marriages were registered in the Tula region, which is
127.2% more than in 2020 (6935). The number of divorces was 6176 and
exceeded the figures of the previous year by 110.8% (5573).
The total workforce (15 years and older) of the Tula region in 2021
amounted to 794.2 thousand people, which is 14.3 thousand people less
than in 2010. The largest share of employees is employed in
manufacturing (22.3%), wholesale and retail trade (17.9%), construction
(8.2%) and education (7.6%).
The number of unemployed according
to the sample labor force survey at the end of 2021 amounted to 30.1
thousand people. This indicator decreased by 16.9 thousand people (36%)
compared to 2010, however, the situation that developed in 2020 in
connection with the introduction of restrictive measures to prevent the
spread of COVID-19 had a negative impact on the labor market of the
region and led to including a slight increase in the number of
unemployed citizens. In order to ensure the employment of unemployed
citizens in the region, active employment programs are being developed
and implemented in accordance with the state program of the Tula region
"Promotion of employment in the Tula region".
The number of
unemployed citizens registered with the employment authorities of the
Tula region, as of the end of 2021, amounted to 4 thousand people, the
level of registered unemployment is 0.5% of the workforce. The need for
workers, declared by employers to the employment authorities, amounted
to 27.8 thousand units of vacancies (19.6 thousand units (70.5%) - for
working professions), the coefficient of tension in the labor market was
0.2 people per 1 vacancy, which varies from 0.03 in the Shchekinsky
district to 1.5 in the Arsenevsky district.
The largest number of
vacancies in 2021 was announced for such working professions as
“seamstress”, “car driver” (of various categories), “food seller”,
“stacker-packer”, “fitter”, “cook”, “electric and gas welder”,
"locksmith", "operator of pig-breeding complexes and mechanisms",
"operator of mechanized and automated warehouses", "tractor driver of
agricultural production", "electrician for the repair and maintenance of
electrical equipment", "turner", "mason", "boiler house operator",
"communication operator", "postman", "storekeeper", "cashier". At the
same time, professions that did not require qualifications were in
demand: “cleaner of industrial and office premises”, “auxiliary worker”,
“loader”, “janitor”, “territory cleaner”, “fish processor”, “picker” and
others.
In the Tula region, the pace of the aging of the labor
force is accelerating: the small generation of the 1990s and 2000s is
entering working age, and the working life of older generations is being
extended due to the increase in the retirement age. As a result, the
region is expected to see a gradual decline in the labor force.
From October 1, 2021, all public sector employees have their wages
indexed by 3.9%. In terms of wages for all categories of workers, the
Tula region generally occupies 4-6 places among the constituent entities
of the Central Federal District. As of January 1, 2022, the average per
capita cash income of the population of the region was 31,815.9 rubles,
and the average monthly nominal accrued wages was 44,725.5 rubles. In
August 2022, the Tula region took 16th place in the ranking of regions
in the labor market among 85 constituent entities of Russia. From
January 1, 2023, the subsistence minimum in the Tula region per capita
is 14,231 rubles.
Since October 1, 2021, all public sector employees have had their
wages indexed by 3.9%. In terms of wages for all categories of workers,
the Tula Region generally ranks 4th to 6th among the constituent
entities of the Central Federal District. As of January 1, 2022, the
average per capita cash income of the region's population was 31,815.9
rubles, and the average monthly nominal accrued wage was 44,725.5
rubles.
Average monthly wages of employees for 2022:
for large
and medium-sized enterprises and non-profit organizations - 54,082.5
rubles (an increase of 12.1% compared to 2021);
municipal preschool
educational institutions - 30,546.4 rubles (an increase of 15.1%
compared to 2021);
municipal general education institutions —
39,449.1 rubles (an increase of 15.4% compared to 2021);
teachers of
municipal educational institutions — 40,520.65 rubles (an increase of
16.3% compared to 2021);
municipal cultural and art institutions —
41,394.6 rubles (an increase of 13.1% compared to 2021);
municipal
physical education and sports institutions — 33,007.5 rubles (an
increase of 10.7% compared to 2021).
Since January 1, 2023, the
subsistence minimum per capita in the Tula region is 14,231 rubles. At
the same time, real monetary income of the population for
January-September 2022 in the region decreased by 2.4% compared to
January-September 2021
To improve the demographic situation and the standard of living of
the population of the Tula region, a social program "People: the quality
of daily life" was adopted, which included five projects. The My Family
Center project helps families find jobs, choose the best way to borrow
money, confirm their right to a benefit or subsidy, improve their living
conditions, and resolve conflict situations. Within the framework of the
project "My Opportunities" they provide assistance to all categories of
people with disabilities. The Tula Longevity project provides assistance
to older people in resolving difficult life situations. The Migration
and Employment project offers a range of services and solutions for the
employment of residents of the region and migrants. The pilot project
"Reproductive Health" provides for combining the efforts of health care
and social protection systems to create a comfortable family-oriented
environment in the region. The project includes medical preventive
measures for reproductive disorders and social support for low-income
families.
As part of the implementation of the program "Providing
additional resettlement to the Russian Federation of compatriots living
abroad" in 2021, 8.7 thousand compatriots arrived in the Tula region (of
which 3.4 thousand program participants and 5.3 thousand members of
their families).
The state authorities and officials of the Tula region are:
Tula
Regional Duma is a legislative (representative) body of state power. It
was first formed on December 12, 1993. The term of office of deputies is
5 years. It is elected by the population of the region (one half of the
composition is by party lists, the other half is by single-mandate
constituencies), the current 7th composition of 36 deputies was formed
in September 2019. The Duma building is located in Tula, at 2 Lenin
Avenue.
The Governor of the Tula Region is the highest official with
a term of office of the governor of 5 years. He is elected by the
residents of the region in accordance with the Charter of the Tula
Region and federal law. The last elections of the governor of the Tula
Region were held on a single voting day on September 19, 2021, and
Alexey Dyumin won them.
The Government of the Tula Region is the
highest, permanent, collegial body of executive state power. The central
executive bodies of state power are ministries, of which there are 17 in
the Tula Region. The Chairman of the Government is the First Deputy
Governor of the Tula Region. Ministers of the Government of the Tula
Region are appointed by the Governor of the Tula Region. The Government
meets in the same building as the Duma in Tula, at 2 Lenin Avenue.
According to the results of 2021, the Tula Region entered the TOP
regions of the country in terms of governance quality according to the
Agency for Political and Economic Communications, taking fourth place in
the list. In addition, the region's growth was noted within the
political and governance block, where it took second place against the
backdrop of the successful gubernatorial elections for Alexei Dyumin. At
the end of 2022, Alexei Dyumin was in second place in the rating of
heads of Russian regions, becoming a figure in high demand and often
mentioned among analysts.
In order to provide additional guarantees for the state protection of
human and civil rights and freedoms, the Tula Region has approved the
position of Commissioner for Human Rights, who is appointed and
dismissed by the Tula Regional Duma. The term of office of the
Commissioner for Human Rights is five years.
In order to provide
additional guarantees for the effective functioning of mechanisms for
the implementation, observance and protection of the rights and
legitimate interests of children by regional government bodies, local
government bodies, educational and medical organizations, organizations
providing social and other services to children and families with
children, and officials, the position of Commissioner for Children's
Rights has been approved in the Tula Region.
In order to protect
the rights and legitimate interests of business entities and exercise
control over compliance with the rights and legitimate interests of
business entities in the Tula Region, the position of Commissioner for
the Protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights has been approved in the Tula
Region.
The Electoral Commission of the Tula Region is
responsible for organizing the preparation and holding of elections and
referendums in the region. The permanent state body for external state
financial control in the region is the Accounts Chamber of the Tula
Region.
The main symbols of the Tula region as a subject of Russia are the
coat of arms and the flag, adopted by the Tula Regional Duma on November
24 and 25, 2005.
The coat of arms of the Tula region was based on
the historical coat of arms of the Tula province. The description of the
coat of arms of the Tula region reads: "In a gules (red) shield there is
a silver blade of a sword in a belt, on two similar inverted blades,
obliquely laid crosswise. All accompanied at the top and bottom by two
golden hammers. The shield is surrounded by the ribbon of the Order of
Lenin." The flag of the Tula region is a rectangular cloth of gules
(red) color with a width to length ratio of 2:3, in the center of which
are depicted the figures of the coat of arms of the Tula region: a white
sword blade located horizontally with the tip to the shaft, laid on top
of two similar blades crossed in a diagonal cross; the blades are
accompanied at the top and bottom by vertically placed yellow hammers.
Representative bodies of urban, rural settlements and urban districts
consist of deputies elected in municipal elections. The representative
body of a municipal district consists of the heads of settlements
included in the municipal district and of deputies of the representative
bodies of the said settlements, elected by the representative bodies of
the settlements from among themselves in accordance with an equal
representation rate regardless of the population of the settlement. The
term of office of representative bodies of an urban, rural settlement,
urban district, municipal district is 5 years, with some exceptions when
the term is 3 years. Local government bodies in the Tula region are
headed by 103 heads of municipalities and 84 heads of municipal
administrations.
In accordance with the regional law of 2017,
village headmen carry out activities to organize interaction between
local government bodies and residents of rural settlements in resolving
issues of local importance. As of November 1, 2022, 1,071 village
headmen operate in 23 municipal districts and urban districts. Their
powers extend to the territory of more than 1,700 settlements, in which
about 160 thousand people live.
Regional branches of dozens of
political parties are registered in the Tula region, the largest of
which by the number of members are United Russia, the Communist Party of
the Russian Federation (CPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
(LDPR), Patriots of Russia, the Party of Growth, A Just Russia, Yabloko
and the Party of Pensioners of Russia.
Since 2011, the People's
Budget project has been implemented in the Tula region, aimed at
identifying and solving socially significant problems of the territories
of municipalities in the region. The project's activities are financed
by the budget of the Tula region, budgets of municipalities and the own
funds of residents and sponsors. The target focus of the People's Budget
project is to activate the participation of residents of the Tula region
in solving problems of local importance and creating comfortable living
conditions for them, supporting the initiatives of residents.
In
2022, an annual survey of the population on the performance of heads of
local governments, enterprises operating at the regional and municipal
levels was conducted in the Tula region, in which 20,141 people took
part. The performance assessment was carried out according to the
following criteria: population satisfaction with the organization of
transport services, the quality of roads, housing and communal services.
The overall percentage of satisfaction in municipal districts and urban
districts was 88.13% (2020 - 81.01%, 2021 - 83.14%). The highest overall
satisfaction rate was in the municipalities of Kamensky District -
99.75, Teplo-Ogaryovsky District - 99.65%, Chernsky District - 99.12%,
the city of Donskoy - 98.86%. Low satisfaction rates were noted in the
municipalities of Kireevsky District - 73.15%, Zaoksky District -
76.34%, Shchekinsky District - 77.19%, the city of Tula - 77.29%, the
city of Aleksin - 77.63%.
The Tula region occupies a favorable geographical position in the
center of the European part of Russia and borders on the Moscow region
in the north and northeast. The competitive advantages of the region are
the developed infrastructure of transport, communications and the market
system: a banking network, insurance, consulting and investment
services, which are necessary conditions for the effective development
of business and its integration into the system of economic ties. The
main transport highways connecting the south and north of Russia pass
through the territory of the Tula region. The relatively high level of
wages in Moscow and the Moscow region stimulate pendulum migration,
which, on the one hand, restrains the development of the region, and on
the other hand, ensures a relatively low level of unemployment, forms
the solvent demand of the population for the main groups of goods and
services.
In the structure of the economy of the Tula region, the
main place in terms of contribution to the gross regional product is
occupied by industry, wholesale and retail trade, construction,
agriculture, real estate transactions, the growth rates of which have
the most significant impact on the growth rates of the gross regional
product. In the structure of the gross regional product, industrial
production accounts for about 46.5% of the gross added value, the
contribution of real estate transactions is 10.1%, wholesale and retail
trade is estimated at 9.2%, construction at 8.0%, and agriculture at
7.2%.
In 2019, the strategy of the Ministry of Economic
Development of Russia identified promising centers of economic growth in
the Tula region. One of these centers was the Tula-Novomoskovsk
agglomeration, which includes about 2/5 of the region's territory, more
than 1 million residents and 70% of the region's economic potential. In
addition to Tula, the agglomeration includes Shchekino (the center of
the chemical industry), Uzlovaya (an industrial park with a powerful
production facility for the production of Haval cars and the dynamically
developing special economic zone "Uzlovaya"), Donskoy and several other
municipalities. A significant part of the agglomeration is the
industrial cluster of the city of Novomoskovsk, where such enterprises
as EuroChem, Knauf Gips, Procter & Gamble, and Aerosol operate.
According to the results of 2022, the gross regional product of the Tula
region, according to estimates, amounted to 932.6 billion rubles -
107.4% compared to the level of 2021 (in current prices). The volume of
shipped goods of own production, work performed and services by own
efforts across the full range of manufacturing organizations for 2022
amounted to 1262.0 billion rubles, the industrial production index
compared to the level of 2021 increased by 2.5% in comparable prices.
Production growth was observed in the following main types of economic
activity:
food production - by 1.9%,
beverage production - by
8.5%, production of chemicals and
chemical products - by 2.3%,
production of finished metal
products, except machinery and equipment
- by 11.6%, metallurgical
production - by 3.6%
The total budget revenue of the Tula Region for 2022 amounted to 116.41 billion rubles. The bulk of the budget revenue of the Tula Region was formed by corporate income tax, personal income tax, excise taxes on excisable goods and corporate property tax. The total budget expenditure of the region amounted to 122.85 billion rubles, the deficit was 6.44 billion rubles, or 5.24% of expenditure. More than 70% of all budget expenditure is directed to the social sphere. The budget also includes investment expenditure, including the construction of an oncology center in Tula for 1.9 billion rubles. Due to a decrease in the volume of repayment of the region's debts on budget loans, 1.5 billion rubles will be allocated for the construction of infrastructure facilities for new investment projects in the Uzlovaya special economic zone. In 2022, the consolidated budgets of 12 municipalities of the Tula Region were executed with a deficit and 14 municipal budgets with a surplus. The budget for 2023 will also retain its social focus.
The investment policy of the Tula Region government is aimed at
creating a regime of maximum administrative and tax favorability. For
several years now, the Tula Region has been among the top 10 regions of
the leaders of the National Rating of the Investment Climate in the
constituent entities of the Russian Federation in terms of the level of
comfort of doing business. In 2022, the region took 4th place among the
regions of Russia. In the implementation of measures to improve the
indicators of the National Rating, the main emphasis is placed on the
high-quality implementation of target models for simplifying business
procedures and increasing investment attractiveness in the Tula Region.
The Special Economic Zone of Industrial and Production Type
"Uzlovaya" (SEZ "Uzlovaya"), created in 2016 on the territory of the
Uzlovsky District with an area of 471.5 hectares, is the most
attractive territory for investors who plan to locate their production
facilities in the Tula Region. The priority areas for the development of
"Uzlovaya" are the chemical industry and metallurgy. Today, 23 companies
are residents of the Uzlovaya SEZ, the total investment volume is more
than 60 billion rubles, it is planned to create more than 4,000 new
jobs. The anchor resident of the industrial park is the company OOO
Haval Motors Manufacturing Rus, other residents of the Uzlovaya IP are
the companies OOO NanoPolymerArm, OOO GC Quality, OOO Gorodskoy
Kommunalny Servis (OOO GKS).
The manufacturing industry of the Tula Region accounts for about 43%
of the gross regional product (GRP). The region's historical economic
specialization is the production of mechanical engineering, chemical and
metallurgical products. There are five private technology parks, two
advanced development territories and one special economic zone operating
in the region.
The defense industry enterprises of the Tula
Region produce anti-tank missile systems, weapons for tanks and other
light armored vehicles, artillery, small arms and cartridges for them.
They also manufacture radar systems for reconnaissance, training
equipment, communications equipment, and multiple launch rocket systems.
The largest enterprises in this area are: the Instrument Design Bureau
(development and production of high-precision guided weapons), the Splav
State Research and Production Enterprise (production of multiple launch
rocket systems), the Tula Arms Plant (production of military, sporting
and civilian weapons), the Tulamashzavod (production of weapons for the
ground forces and the navy) and the Tula Cartridge Plant.
There
are five main points in the civil engineering of the Tula Region:
Transmash in Belev, Tyazhpromarmatura in Aleksin, TPO Promet in
Uzlovaya, IEK Metall Plast in Yasnogorsk and Kombaynmashstroy in Tula.
The region predominantly mines limestone and sand, including the
largest gypsum deposit. There are 8 deposits of carbonate rocks, 50
deposits of construction sand, 48 deposits of brick raw materials. Also
in the region there are anomalies of precious metals, polymetals,
cadmium, copper, silver, zinc, lead, barium and lithium, reserves of
mineral waters, brown coal, which is promising as a mining and chemical
raw material, subject to industrial development.
The chemical
complex of the Tula region includes 18 large and medium-sized
enterprises. The enterprises of this industry produce and sell:
synthetic rubber, mineral fertilizers, ammonia, sulfuric acid, methanol,
polystyrene and styrene copolymers, caprolactam, synthetic detergents,
synthetic resins and plastics, etc. The largest enterprises in the
region are Azot in Novomoskovsk, Khimvolokno in Shchyokino and the
Efremovsky Synthetic Rubber Plant in Efremov.
The region has
metallurgical production facilities created in different periods of the
country's industrialization: Kosogorsky Metallurgical Plant (founded in
1897), Tulachermet (founded in 1931), and the largest modern casting and
rolling complex in the European part of Russia based on converter
technology, Tula-Stal. The main direction of ferrous metallurgy in the
Tula region is the production of commercial pig iron, high-purity blast
furnace pig iron, ferromanganese and various vanadium compounds. In
terms of industrial output among the regions of Russia, the Tula region
ranks 7th.
Agriculture in the Tula region specializes in growing grain, sugar
beets, potatoes, vegetables, fruits and berries, and meat and dairy
farming. Crop production predominated in the structure of agricultural
production, accounting for 55.4%, while livestock farming accounted for
44.6%. Agriculture is most developed in the southern forest-steppe part
of the region. Here, grain (wheat, barley), legumes (peas), oilseeds
(sunflower, rapeseed, soybeans) and forage crops, as well as meat and
dairy cattle breeding and pig farming, are grown. In the northern
regions, dairy and beef cattle breeding, forage crop cultivation and
potato farming predominate. Fruit and berry gardening and vegetable
growing have developed in pockets[95]. Agricultural land occupies about
75% of the territory of the Tula region and is used for livestock
farming and plant growing. The main share of beef cattle is kept on the
farms of the Bryansk Meat Company, which is part of the Miratorg
agro-industrial holding, as well as in a number of peasant (farming)
households. The Bryansk Meat Company is implementing an investment
project to breed Aberdeen Angus bulls in the Arsenyevsky, Belyovsky,
Dubensky, Kireevsky, Odoevsky, Suvorovsky, Shchekinsky and Chernsky
districts of the region.
One of the large poultry enterprises is
the Tulskaya poultry farm, which has the status of a second-order
breeding reproducer for breeding Hisex Brown cross chickens, where 213.1
million eggs are obtained per year. The poultry population is 770,782,
including 613,940 laying hens, and the average egg production is 336
eggs per year. Chicken eggs are also produced by the Zaokskoye poultry
farm (Leto Group), whose poultry farm capacity is 158.2 million eggs per
year. The poultry population is 685,848, and the average annual egg
production is 315 pieces. Leto Group is among the top ten leaders in
chicken egg production in Russia. All the company's poultry farms
together produce 650-700 million eggs per year.
There are three
breeding farms in the region (two for breeding dairy cattle and one
horse breeding), as well as eight breeding reproducers (three poultry
and pig breeding, one for breeding dairy cattle and one fur farm). The
leading agricultural enterprise in the Tula region for breeding Ayrshire
cattle is the Zarya breeding farm in the village of Dedilovo, Kireevsky
District.
The regional consumer market has a fairly developed network of retail
enterprises, which is represented by both supermarkets (hypermarkets)
and small-format retail enterprises (convenience stores, pavilions,
kiosks, etc.). In 2022, there were 12,100 retail enterprises operating
in the region, including 3,700 non-stationary and 142 mobile. The actual
level of provision of the population of the Tula region with operating
stationary retail facilities is 21.7 units per 10 thousand people (with
a planned value of at least 9).
Retail turnover in
January-November 2022 amounted to 346,593.1 million rubles, which in
comparable prices is 97.8% of January-November 2021. At the same time,
the wholesale segment grew by 1.9% and amounted to 462,386.5 million
rubles. Over the 11 months of 2022, the region's population was provided
with paid services worth 79,707.5 million rubles, which is 101.0% of
January-November 2021. In the structure of the volume of household
services, more than half (61.7%) accounted for three types of services:
maintenance and repair of vehicles, machinery and equipment; repair,
construction of housing and other buildings; hairdressing and beauty
services. Annual inflation in the Tula region in December 2022 was
9.67%.
The financial market of the Tula region is represented by various credit and non-credit financial institutions, the leading sector of which is the banking segment. Such large federal banks as Sberbank, VTB 24, Gazprombank, Rosselkhozbank, Alfa-Bank, Raiffeisenbank and others successfully operate in the Tula Region. A developing segment of the region's financial market is the microfinance organization sector, the number of which has decreased in recent years, which is due to the work of the Bank of Russia to cleanse the register of unscrupulous players.
The average provision of housing per capita in the Tula region was
30.99 m² in 2021, 31.69 m² in 2022 (an increase of 2.3%), which is 12.6%
more than in Russia (26.91 m²) and 7.7% more than in the Central Federal
District (28.13 m²). The average regional value of the area of land
plots provided for construction per 10 thousand people in 2022 was 5.54
hectares, which is 3.14 hectares higher than the 2021 level.
At
the end of 2022, the number of objects and developers carrying out
construction with the involvement of funds from equity construction
participants amounted to 83 objects (an increase of 9%) for 47
developers (in 2021, 76 objects for 39 developers, in 2020 - 113 objects
for 43 developers). The share of housing construction projects using
escrow accounts in the total volume of multi-apartment housing under
construction is more than 85% (more than 558 thousand m²). The
construction of multi-apartment housing in the Tula region is carried
out by privately owned organizations, whose share is 100%.
The
volume of work in the construction sector in 2022 amounted to 108.4
billion rubles - 8.6% lower than the level of 2021. In 2022, housing
commissioning in the Tula Region amounted to 913.6 thousand m² (109.3%
of the 2021 level - 836.1 thousand m²), of which individual housing
construction - 575.9 thousand m² (114% of the corresponding period of
2021 - 505.0 thousand m²), multi-apartment residential buildings - 337.6
thousand m² (102% of the corresponding period of 2021 - 331.1 thousand
m²). From 2016 to 2022, about 5.1 million m² were commissioned in the
Tula Region. Most of the apartment buildings are being built in Tula,
Novomoskovsk and Kireevsky District, and Tula, Aleksin, Novomoskovsk,
Zaoksky and Yasnogorsky Districts are the leaders in the individual
housing sector. The urban development potential of the Tula Region is
estimated at 9.3 million m².
In the third quarter of 2023, the
price per square meter of the total area of apartments in new
buildings in the Tula Region was 92,463 rubles, on the secondary market
- 94,978 rubles, which is 2% and 7.2% more compared to the second
quarter. In the rating of Russian regions by mortgage availability in
2023, the Tula Region took 40th place. 27.4% of families in the region
can afford to buy an apartment with a mortgage, which is 2.9% more than
a year earlier.
In 2018, a program was approved for the
resettlement of citizens from emergency housing recognized as such
before January 1, 2017, the implementation of which is carried out at
the expense of the Housing and Utilities Reform Assistance Fund and the
regional budget. The total resettlement rate at the beginning of 2023
was 106.4 thousand m² of emergency housing and 5.23 thousand people. As
part of the resettlement program, by 2022, 72.0 thousand m² of emergency
housing was resettled, 3.88 thousand people were resettled to
comfortable living quarters, 24 apartment buildings were built, another
5 are under construction, the commissioning of these buildings was
planned for 2023.
The power system of the Tula region is part of the Unified Energy
System of Russia, being part of the Unified Energy System of the Center,
is located in the operational zone of the branch of JSC "SO UES" -
"Regional Dispatch Office of the Energy System of the Tula Region" (Tula
RDU). The energy system of the region is connected to the energy systems
of the Moscow region via five high-voltage lines (HVL) 220 kV and two
HVL 110 kV, Kaluga region via six HVL 220 kV and eight HVL 110 kV,
Ryazan region via one HVL 220 kV and two HVL 110 kV, Oryol region via
one HVL 220 kV and two HVL 110 kV, Bryansk region via one HVL 220 kV.
The following energy companies form the basis of the electric power
industry of the Tula Region:
Branch "Cherepetskaya GRES named after
D. G. Zhimerin" of JSC "Inter RAO - Electric Power Plants";
Branch of
PJSC "Quadra" - "Central Generation". The branch of PJSC "Quadra" -
"Central Generation" includes three thermal power plants:
Novomoskovskaya GRES, Aleksinskaya TPP and Efremovskaya TPP;
LLC
"Shchekinskaya GRES";
Branch of PJSC "FGC UES" - Priokskoye
enterprise of trunk electric networks (220-500 kV);
Branch
"Tulenergo" of PJSC "MRSK of the Center and Volga Region" (0.4 - 6 (10)
- 35 - 110 kV). The branch "Tulenergo" includes 14 districts of electric
networks;
JSC Tula City Electric Networks (0.4 — 6(10) kV);
JSC
Shchekino City Electric Network (0.4 — 6(10) kV);
LLC PromEnergoSbyt
(0.4 — 6(10) kV);
LLC Energoset (0.4 — 6(10) — 110 kV);
JSC
Aleksinskaya Electric Grid Company (0.4 — 6(10) kV)
In addition,
23 organizations — owners of electric grid facilities — operate in the
field of providing electric power transmission services. The following
industrial power plants are located in the Tula Region:
TPP-PVS PJSC
Tulachermet (101.5 MW);
TPP-PVS PJSC Kosogorsky Metallurgical Plant
(24 MW);
Pervomayskaya TPP and TPP of the Yefremov branch of JSC
Shchekinoazot (105 MW, 6 MW)
In the Tula region, electric power
transmission via 0.4-6(10) kV distribution networks is carried out by
five territorial grid organizations: JSC Tula City Electric Networks,
OOO PromEnergoSbyt, JSC Shchekinskaya City Electric Network, OOO
Energoset and JSC Aleksinskaya Electric Network Company. In the Tula
region. In the region, three energy sales organizations with the status
of a guaranteed supplier operate in the sale of electric power: JSC TNS
Energo Tula, OOO Novomoskovskaya Energosbytovaya Kompaniya and OOO
Aleksinenergosbyt.
Electricity consumption in the Tula region
(taking into account consumption for the own needs of power plants and
losses in the networks) in 2020 amounted to 10,269 million kWh, the
maximum load was 1,577 MW. Thus, the Tula region is an energy-deficient
region in terms of electricity and balanced in terms of capacity; the
deficit is covered by flows from neighboring power systems. In the
structure of electricity consumption in the region, industry is the
leader - 53%, the share of the population in energy consumption is 14%.
In 2022, the Tula region became one of the pilot regions for the
development of a network of fast charging stations for electric
vehicles. 4 charging infrastructure facilities were installed on the M-4
"Don" highway.
Currently, 86 organizations operate in the Tula region in the sphere
of heat supply services (total useful output — 7.531 million Gcal), of
which:
private ownership — 77 organizations or 89.5% of the
total;
municipal ownership — 9 organizations or 10.5% of the total.
Since January 1, 2004, Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Tula LLC has been
performing the functions of selling gas to the population of the Tula
region. The level of gasification of the Tula region with natural gas is
88.1%. There are 2 gas distribution organizations in the region: Gazprom
Gazoraspredelenie Tula JSC and Tulagorgaz JSC. The number of gas
distribution stations in the Tula region is 77, CS - 2, GRP - 1168, SHRP
- 3162. Length:
main gas pipelines - 1566 km, (11 main gas
pipelines pass through the territory of the Tula region),
branch gas
pipelines - 628 km,
high-pressure gas networks - 3404 km,
medium-pressure gas networks - 1591 km,
low-pressure gas networks -
9117 km.
Since January 1, 2019, the organization of activities for handling
municipal solid waste in the Tula region is carried out by two regional
operators: "Khartiya" (within the boundaries of the urban district of
Tula, Kireevsky and Shchekinsky districts) and "MSK-NT" (in the rest of
the region).
The collection and transportation of municipal solid
waste is carried out by garbage trucks according to the approved waste
removal schedule according to transport schemes and routes. The regional
operator's fleet is equipped with satellite navigation equipment that
allows you to determine where the garbage truck is, what facility it
serves, when it should arrive at the final destination of the route or
to the unloading site, when it will start the next route. Photographic
recording of the container site is also carried out before and after the
removal of municipal solid waste. Today, the main method of final waste
management, including municipal solid waste, in the Tula region is their
placement at disposal sites.
In 2021, the regional operator
"Khartia" launched the Tula eco-technopark with a capacity of up to 100
thousand tons of waste per year. On an area of 42 hectares, there is a
waste processing complex, where the following are installed: a waste
sorting complex, secondary raw materials storage areas, organic waste
processing areas, a hydroseparation area and contactless polymer
splitting. On an adjacent site of 28 hectares, there is a landfill for
non-recyclable fractions with a total capacity of 6.9 million tons
(design service life of 19 years). Waste from Tula, Kireevsky and
Shchekino districts is received by the eco-technopark. In 2023, the
second stage of this waste processing complex is planned to be launched.
In 2022, the Tula Region began the first stage of the implementation
of a separate collection system for municipal solid waste, for which
more than 450 special containers were installed in the cities of Tula,
Uzlovaya, Novomoskovsk and Shchekino. The waste processing complex of
the MSK-NT company in the Dubensky district and the Tula eco-technopark
of the Khartiya company are used to process them and extract useful
components from them.
Three enterprises for processing municipal
solid waste will be created in the Tula region with the participation of
the Russian Ecological Operator company by 2024. An agreement on their
construction was signed at the XXV St. Petersburg International Economic
Forum.
The region's transport network is more developed than its neighboring
regions and is second only to the Moscow Region. One of the region's
main advantages is its geographical location. The distance from the
center of Tula to the center of Moscow is 185 km.
The region has
an extensive network of paved roads. The federal highways M-2 "Crimea",
M-4 "Don", a small section of R-22 "Caspian", R-132 "Golden Ring"
(Kaluga - Tula - Mikhailov - Ryazan) and R-92 (Kaluga - Przemysl - Belev
- Orel) pass through the Tula Region. As of the beginning of 2020, the
length of regional and inter-municipal roads is 4,321.834 km, with
asphalt concrete pavement - 3,882.826 km, cement concrete - 0.88 km,
crushed stone - 419.351 km, with dirt pavement - 18.777 km.
The
main automobile hubs are the cities of Tula, Efremov, Belev and Venev.
The direction of freight flows "North - South" is fully provided by the
federal highways M-2 "Crimea" and M-4 "Don", the interconnection of
which is carried out through a section of the federal highway R-132
"Golden Ring" and a number of regional roads.
The main areas of
road activities are the implementation of the national project "Safe
High-Quality Roads", activities within the framework of the state
program "Modernization and Development of Public Roads in the Tula
Region". In order to develop the regional transport infrastructure of
the Tula region, in 2020, the construction of the second stage of the
Eastern Bypass of Tula was completed. It is planned to build a road
bypassing Novomoskovsk. The amount of investment will be almost 14
billion rubles. 2.7 billion rubles will be allocated for the
construction of a new bridge across the Upa River in Tula. Many cities
in the region are connected by direct bus routes to Moscow. The current
network includes more than 100 city, 300 suburban and 59 intercity bus
routes connecting Tula with Moscow, the centers of the Bryansk,
Voronezh, Tambov, Oryol, Kursk, Kaluga, Lipetsk, Ryazan regions.
According to JSC Central Dispatch Service of the Tula Region, 1,820
vehicles are actually engaged in the transportation of passengers and
baggage on municipal and intermunicipal routes of the Tula Region. The
carriers' vehicles are equipped with GLONASS equipment and connected to
the regional navigation system of the Tula region - JSC "Central
Dispatch Service of the Tula Region", with the help of which monitoring
of vehicles carrying out passenger transportation is carried out.
The population of the municipalities of Arsenyevsky District, the
city of Novomoskovsk, Plavsky District, the city of Donskoy, Slavny, the
working settlement of Novogurovsky is fully provided with regular
transport communication. The municipal districts with the least
provision of bus and rail services include: Volovsky District - 9.2%
(1.3 thousand out of 13.9 thousand people), Zaoksky District - 8.8% (2.3
thousand out of 26.7 thousand people), Kurkinsky District - 5.19% (0.6
thousand out of 10.8 thousand people), Odoevsky District - 5.6% (0.7
thousand out of 11.7 thousand people) and Chernsky District - 6.7% (1.2
thousand out of 18.5 thousand people). The share of the population of
the Tula Region not provided with regular transport services in the
total number at the end of 2022 amounted to 1.1% or 16.1 thousand
people.
In November 2020, the Ministry of Transport and Road
Facilities of the Tula Region, together with the State Unitary
Enterprise Moscow Metro, introduced an automated fare payment system
using the Troika transport card in the Tula Region, which operates on 64
routes in Tula and 267 routes in the Tula Region.
Since 2020,
measures have been taken in the Tula Region to introduce an intelligent
transport system for the Tula urban agglomeration to reduce congestion
and improve road safety, due to which the capacity of the street and
road network has increased by an average of 10%, and the average speed
of vehicles has increased by 7%.
The operational length of the Tula region of the Moscow Railway is
1149.8 km. The total length of the main tracks is 1657.6 km, station
tracks - 937.5 km, electrified tracks - 255 km. Railways: main
electrified lines "Moscow - Kharkov - Simferopol" (via Yasnogorsk, Tula,
Shchekino and Plavsk), "Moscow - Donbass" (via Venev, Uzlovaya,
Bogoroditsk and Efremov), diesel locomotive lines: historical
Syzran-Vyazemskaya (via Kimovsk, Donskoy, Tula and Aleksin), line
Plekhanovo - Kozelsk - Sukhinichi (via Suvorov), partially mothballed
historical Ryazan-Uralskaya line "Smolensk - Sukhinichi - Kozelsk -
Belev - Gorbachyovo - Teploe - Volovo and further to Ranenburg"
(mothballed on the Belev - Arsenyevo section, dismantled on the Teploe -
Volovo - Kulikovo Pole section, Kurkino settlement). In addition, in the
vicinity of Novomoskovsk there is a dense network of departmental lines
to industrial enterprises and coal mines. Locomotive depots are located
in Tula, Uzlovaya and Novomoskovsk.
The largest railway junctions
of the region are Tula (stations Tula I-Kurskaya and Plekhanovo) and
Uzlovaya (station Uzlovaya I). Of the centers of municipal districts,
only the settlements of Odoyev, Chern and Arkhangelskoye do not have
direct access to the railway network. There are 31 railway stations in
the region, of which the Moscow Station in Tula is on the balance sheet
of the Moscow Directorate of Railway Stations.
There are 333
railway bridges (90 of the largest) across the rivers flowing through
the region. Of these, 19 are double-track, 71 are single-track, 5 are
guarded, 85 are unguarded, 10 have a bridge length of over 100 m, and 48
are less than 50 m.
The main types of cargo transported by rail
across the Tula Region are ferrous metals, fertilizers, chemicals,
construction materials, and industrial raw materials. The average daily
loading at the region's facilities is 29,297 tons. The main freight
stations of the department are Prisady, Severnaya, and Zbrodovo.
The region has access to the river network of the European part of Russia; the list of inland waterways includes the Oka River from Kaluga, and piers in the city of Aleksin near the villages of Egnyshevka and Byokhovo. The main transportation on the section is carried out by OAO Port Serpukhov: tourist trips along the picturesque routes Serpukhov - Tarusa with numerous holiday homes, tourist bases, and children's camps; extraction and transportation of non-metallic minerals.
There are no civilian airports in the Tula region. The Klokovo
airport in Tula has not been operating since the early 1990s. In 2021,
it was decided to give its territory for residential development, where
at least 1.2 million square meters of housing will be built.
Near
Yefremov is the abandoned military airfield Yefremov-3. There are also
several other airfields and landing sites in the region, including
military ones with unpaved runways. The airfield infrastructure is
mostly destroyed, flights are carried out sporadically.
Tula is a significant hub of main gas pipelines, the region is
crossed by the following gas pipelines: "Yamburg - Tula-2", "North
Caucasus - Center", "Tula - Torzhok", "Yelets - Serpukhov", "Tula -
Shostka - Kyiv", one of the branches "Nizhny Novgorod - Center"), in
addition to the village of Prishnya, a large compressor station is
located in Yefremov ("Yelets - Serpukhov"). The total gas transportation
through them exceeds 13 billion m³ / year, including about 7 billion m³
/ year for domestic consumption of the region.
The oil product
pipeline "Ryazan Oil Refinery - Orel" with a branch to Kaluga passes
through the region, providing fuel to the south of the Central European
part and export deliveries. The volume of pumping through the region is
more than 4 million tons / year.
The region is crossed by the
main power line Smolensk NPP - Substation Mikhailovskaya (Ryazan
Region). Half of the demand is transferred from the unified energy
system to the region - about 6.5 billion kWh/year (equivalent to about
2.2 billion m³ of gas as fuel for a typical thermal power plant).
The overall morbidity rate of the population of the Tula region exceeds the average values for the Central Federal District in 8 classes. The leading ones are diseases of the blood and hematopoietic organs and individual disorders involving the immune mechanism - 39.8%, diseases of the endocrine system, nutritional disorders, metabolic disorders - 29.0%, diseases of the circulatory system - 28.8%, diseases of the nervous system - 27.5%, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue - 14.5%.
The state policy and management in the field of education in the
region is carried out by the Ministry of Health of the Tula Region.
Primary pre-medical health care to the population of the Tula Region is
provided by paramedics, obstetricians and other health workers with
secondary medical education, primary medical health care is provided by
therapists, district therapists, pediatricians, district pediatricians
and general practitioners. According to the geoinformation portal of the
Ministry of Health of Russia, there are no settlements located outside
the primary health care availability zone in the Tula Region. In
settlements with a population of less than 100 people and (or) located
at a significant distance from medical organizations or their divisions,
households have been created in the Tula Region. In order to increase
the availability of medical care to residents of remote rural areas with
low transport accessibility, mobile medical teams are sent out to carry
out dispensary examinations of patients and preventive examinations of
the rural population. Since 2019, air transport has been used to
evacuate patients. In the Tula region, in order to develop air ambulance
services, it is planned to build helicopter pads in the immediate
vicinity of medical organizations in Aleksin, Suvorov, Efremov, Odoev,
Plavsk and Tula.
Since 2012, the region has been operating the
Doctor 71 portal, which is an electronic registry for making
appointments with doctors of various profiles through the Unified
Identification and Authentication System. Initially, it was created to
automate making an appointment with a doctor, but today its functions
have been significantly expanded. On the portal, you can make an
appointment with doctors of all levels: both with a general practitioner
and with specialized specialists. However, only those patients who are
under dispensary observation can make an appointment with specialists.
Everyone else must first visit a general practitioner and get a referral
from him.
In June 2019, as part of the implementation of the
national Healthcare project, air ambulance services were organized in
the region. The tasks of air ambulance in the Tula region are carried
out by the National Air Ambulance Service, part of the Rostec State
Corporation, using the Ansat medical helicopter, which includes an
artificial lung ventilation system, a tele-ECG that allows monitoring
cardiac activity in real time, and other equipment for evacuating
patients with varying degrees of severity. During the flight, patients
are accompanied by a resuscitation doctor and a paramedic. Most often,
air evacuation is required for victims of road accidents and patients
with heart attacks. Air ambulances also carry out interhospital medical
evacuations to provide victims and seriously ill patients with
specialized high-tech medical care, including in federal medical
centers. The helicopter is based at the landing site of the Myasnovo
airfield in Tula. The Tula Regional Hospital has a landing pad for the
helicopter at night. As of the beginning of 2023, 603 flights have been
made.
In 2021, a primary healthcare modernization program was
launched in the Tula Region, during which eight clinics and five
feldsher-obstetric stations (FAPs) were overhauled in the region, 32 new
FAPs were established, clinics were equipped with new equipment, and the
vehicle fleet of medical institutions was updated. In total, by 2025,
more than 220 medical institutions are planned to be built and
reconstructed as part of the primary healthcare modernization program in
the Tula Region. According to preliminary data, the funding volume for
the program will amount to 7.5 billion rubles. In March 2022, a new
perinatal center with 160 beds was opened in Tula, which is the first
large facility in the maternity care system in the region built in the
last 35 years. In December 2023, the regional oncology center in Tula
was opened with a total area of over 57 thousand m², consisting of
four blocks (consultative and diagnostic, surgery, laboratory and
hospital), and designed for 340 beds. Since 2002, the Tula Regional
Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS and Infectious Diseases
has been operating in Tula. In addition to providing medical care to
patients, the center monitors the epidemiological situation of HIV
infection in the Tula region, and also takes measures to prevent the
spread of the disease in risk groups. In 2022, more than 7.2 thousand
HIV-infected citizens lived in the Tula region, of which 400 were
diagnosed with AIDS. Most HIV-infected residents live in Tula,
Shchyokinsky, Kireevsky and Aleksinsky districts. Most of the region's
residents with an established diagnosis of HIV infection are under
dispensary observation and receive treatment. In the Tula region, as
well as in Russia as a whole, the sexual route of infection predominates
- 74%. During homosexual contacts - 3.3% were infected, during
intravenous drug use - 22%, infection of children from HIV-positive
mothers (during pregnancy, childbirth, during breastfeeding) - 0.7%. Of
all residents of the region living with HIV, men make up 63.6%.
In the Tula region, the problem of shortage of medical personnel, and
first of all, doctors, remains relevant. Problems with providing the
population with medicines, including preferential categories of
citizens, persist.
In the Tula region, non-governmental medical organizations annually take part in the implementation of the territorial program of state guarantees of free medical care to citizens. In 2021, the number of such medical organizations was 42 (in 2020 - 41, in 2019 - 38, in 2018 - 32). The main medical services provided by non-governmental organizations are: dentistry, radiology (CT and MRI), laboratory diagnostics, medical care, in vitro fertilization and hemodialysis.
The state policy and management in the field of education in the
region is carried out by the Ministry of Education of the Tula Region.
In 2019, the state program "Development of Education in the Tula Region"
was approved, the purpose of which is to ensure 100% accessibility of
preschool education, create modern conditions for obtaining high-quality
general education, create a system of professional and career
navigation, digital transformation of education, etc. To achieve these
goals, a number of regional projects have been launched in the region,
including "Modern School", "Success of Every Child", "Digital
Educational Environment" and "Young Professionals".
Within the
framework of this program, subsidies are provided from the budget of the
Tula Region to the budgets of municipalities of the region to create
conditions for physical education and sports in rural areas, build
buildings for preschool and general education institutions, organize
free hot meals for students, create centers for natural sciences,
technology and children's technology parks "Quantorium", as well as
implement a digital educational environment.
According to the results of 2022, the network of organizations in the
Tula region providing preschool services was represented by 466
entities: 4 - state and 222 - municipal preschool educational
organizations, 5 - state and 96 - municipal general education
organizations implementing preschool education programs, 132 - municipal
education centers implementing preschool education programs, 4 -
departmental preschool educational institutions (3 preschool educational
institutions are under the jurisdiction of the KBP, 1 preschool
educational institution under the jurisdiction of Tula State
University), 3 - private preschool educational organizations.
For
the 2021-2022 academic year, 3,068 groups were formed, of which 630
groups are for children aged 0 to 3 years. The contingent of pupils is
55,758 people. The coverage of children aged 0 to 7 years with preschool
education out of the total number of children wishing to receive
preschool services is 100%. There is no current order.
The
availability of preschool education services in the Tula region is
increased by repurposing the existing infrastructure in rural areas and
by constructing new buildings of preschool educational institutions in
large cities. The overwhelming majority of activities for the
construction of kindergarten buildings are implemented within the
framework of the national project "Demography". In 2019-2021, 12
kindergartens were commissioned in the Tula region within the framework
of this national project, including 1 kindergarten for 240 places - at
the expense of extra-budgetary sources.
In order to provide
assistance to parents of children who do not attend preschool
educational institutions, 174 consultation and methodological centers
operate in the region. In 2021, a pilot project "Modern Children" was
launched in preschool educational institutions of the Tula region, aimed
at developing the cognitive interest and personal development of
children aged 6-7 years by involving them in an intellectual, playful
and communicative adult-children's environment, in particular by
introducing them to their native land, through familiarization with the
English language, mastering the basics of computer science and chess
art.
According to the results of 2022, 147,712 people were studying in
primary, basic and secondary general education programs, 460 state and
municipal general education organizations were functioning. 1,661
extended day groups were opened with a total enrollment of 32,991
children. 83.4% of children in the region study in city schools. 8,575
students are transported to and from their place of study by 332 school
buses, which is 473 regular school routes. The average class size is 17
people (22 in the city, 8 in the countryside). 1,739 people (1.22% of
the total number of students) study in the second shift in 12
institutions. About 62 thousand students in grades 1-4 in all general
education organizations of the Tula Region receive free hot meals. As of
the beginning of the 2021-2022 academic year, 12,795 teaching staff
worked in the general education system, of which 10,071 were teachers.
Since 2020, the Zemsky Teacher program has been implemented in the
region, designed to fill the shortage of qualified personnel in general
education organizations located in rural areas and cities with a
population of up to 50 thousand people. Most general education
organizations in the Tula region implement pre-profile training and
specialized training for high school students. In the 2022-2023 academic
year, 100% of general education organizations with a senior level of
education in the Tula region are covered by specialized training. A
total of 10,747 students study in specialized classes, which is 100% of
all students in grades 10-11. Pre-profile training was carried out in
28.7% of general education organizations implementing specialized
training. The socio-economic, humanitarian, natural science and
technological profiles were popular among high school students.
To develop specialized education in the region, specialized classes for
students in grades 10-11 are being implemented in general education
organizations together with leading universities: Kurchatov classes -
15, Agricultural classes - 9, IT classes - 17, Psychological and
pedagogical classes - 28, Financial and economic classes - 5, Medical
classes - 6. The following specialized schools operate in the region:
Tula Regional Pedagogical School "PROuchitelstvo", Tula Regional School
"Communication without Borders", Regional School of Financial Literacy
"FinanceUM", Tula Regional Medical School "Steps to Medicine". The
development of specialized education is facilitated by partnerships
between educational organizations and leading enterprises in the region:
Instrument-making Design Bureau, Strela Scientific and Production
Association, Metal Rolling Plant, Tulmashzavod, Shchekinoazot, Tula Arms
Plant and others.
As part of the national project "Education",
the region has "Growth Point" education centers and centers for
identifying, supporting and developing abilities and talents in children
and young people. In 2021, the Regional Center for Identifying,
Supporting and Developing Abilities and Talents in Children and Young
People "Sozvezdie" began operating, carrying out work in the areas of
"Sports", "Science" and "Art". In the 2021-2022 academic year, pilot
projects are being implemented to create specialized classes -
"Agroclasses", "Teacher of the Future", "Kurchatov Classes", "IT
Classes". There are also 3 regional specialized schools in the region:
Tula Regional Pedagogical School "PROuchitelstvo", Regional School of
Financial Literacy "FinanceUM" and Tula Regional Medical School "Steps
to Medicine". In 2018, the Gifted Children Support Center was opened - a
structural subdivision of the Yasnaya Polyana Educational Complex named
after L. N. Tolstoy.
The region has stable results in the Unified
State Exam, every year graduates show 100-point results in various
subjects. In 2021, 63 graduates received maximum scores on the Unified
State Exam, 3 graduates received 100-point results twice. The Olympiad
and competitive movement of students is widely developed in the Tula
Region. Particular attention is paid to the organization and holding of
the All-Russian School Olympiad. The region actively interacts with the
Sirius educational center.
In 2021, 16 state educational
institutions with round-the-clock stay of children functioned in the
Tula region for orphans and children left without parental care.
As of 2022, the network of educational organizations of additional
professional education is represented by 24 colleges located in 15
municipalities of the Tula region. The total number of students in the
2022 academic year was 21,431 people. Training is conducted in more than
140 specialties and professions. The contingent of students has
increased by 9% over the past 3 years. According to the results of
monitoring in 2022, the graduate employment rate was 65.8%.
Since
2014, the Tula region has been participating in the implementation of
the Young Professionals (WorldSkills Russia) movement. In 2018, a
roadmap for the implementation of projects and programs of the Young
Professionals Movement in the region was developed and approved, and an
order of the regional government "On holding annual regional
championships in professional skills" was adopted.
The network of supplementary education institutions in the field of
education in 2022 is represented by the children's technopark
"Kvantorium" in Tula, 3 mobile technoparks, the school technopark
"Kvantorium", 4 digital education centers for children "IT-cube", where
educational programs are organized in the areas of "Programming",
"Robotics", "Digital hygiene and work with big data", 2 regional
technoparks of natural science focus, 29 mini-technoparks in general
education institutions, 117 education centers "Growth Point", 380 school
theaters and 422 school sports clubs. The coverage of children aged 5 to
18 years old with supplementary education programs is 86.2%.
The
region has an automated information system "Navigator of additional
education for children of the Tula Region", which allows you to select
additional educational programs based on specific requests. There are
734 educational organizations registered in this system, implementing
7921 additional general education programs in the natural sciences,
social and humanitarian, technical, tourism and local history, physical
education and sports, and art. In order to promote the events of the
federal project "Success of Every Child" of the national project
"Education", the Regional Model Center for Additional Education for
Children was created.
On September 4, 2023, the support center
for gifted children "Sozvezdie" opened in Novomoskovsk, which is a kind
of science city where students will study mathematics, physics,
chemistry, biology in depth, engage in creativity, and solve practical
problems under the guidance of teachers from the region's leading
universities. The center includes the Olimp Lyceum with round-the-clock
accommodation for students in grades 9-11, the educational center
"Academy of Achievements", on the basis of which specialized shifts will
be held, the additional education cluster "Laboratory of Success" for
children from 7 to 18 years old in various areas. Earlier, gifted
children support centers were opened at the Raikhel Music School and the
Yasnaya Polyana Educational Complex.
There are 2 organizations of
additional professional education in the Tula Region: the Institute for
Advanced Training and Professional Retraining of Education Workers of
the Tula Region and the Educational and Methodological Center for Civil
Defense and Emergencies of the Tula Region.
In the Tula region, a system of education for students with
disabilities has been created and is developing. Currently, there are 6
early intervention services in the education system: in Tula, Aleksin,
Efremov, Novomoskovsk and Suvorov. As of 2020, out of 61,041 children
attending preschool educational institutions in the Tula region, 4,023
children (6.5%) are children with disabilities (including 172 disabled
children) and 152 children with disabilities. In 2020, the number of
children with disabilities attending preschool educational institutions
increased by 11.3%. In 2020, the number of combined-focus groups was 70,
and compensatory-focus groups - 259, their number has increased by 3.1%
since 2019. The number of non-educational children with disabilities in
general educational institutions decreases annually. There is a Distance
Education Center for Children with Disabilities, where both general
education programs and additional education programs are implemented.
The creation of conditions for children with disabilities to receive
quality education is implemented within the framework of the state
program "Accessible Environment". The number of educational
organizations participating in the program was 5 in 2020, including 1
preschool and 4 general education organizations. According to the
results of 2020, in the Tula region, the number of general education
organizations that have created conditions for the education of children
with disabilities is 125 (27.1% of their total number with a planned
value of 23%), preschool educational organizations - 90 (19.9% of
their total number with a planned value of 18.5%).
In the Tula region, 3 private organizations implement the main
general educational program of preschool education, and 5 private
organizations - the main general educational program of general
education, which is less than 1% of the total number of educational
organizations in this area. Private organizations implementing the basic
general educational program of preschool and general education are
reimbursed for expenses, including expenses on labor costs, the purchase
of textbooks and teaching aids, teaching aids, games, toys (except for
the costs of maintaining buildings and paying for utilities). Private
general educational organizations of the Tula region are predominantly
religious in nature.
Parents whose children attend private
preschool organizations are paid compensation in the amount of 20% of
the average parental fee for the supervision and care of children in
state educational organizations under the jurisdiction of the Tula
region and municipal educational organizations for the first child, 50%
of the amount of such fee for the second child, 70% of the amount of
such fee for the third child and subsequent children. Private
organizations do not have stable mass demand from consumers due to the
high amount of parental fees, which reduces the demand of the population
for the services provided. The amount of fee charged to parents in
private preschool organizations ranges from 15 to 30 thousand rubles per
month.
The Tula Region is one of the oldest regions of Russia, which has an established and developed scientific and technical potential capable of solving various problems in the region's economy. The state policy in the field of science, innovation and higher education is carried out by the Tula Region Committee for Science and Innovation.
There are 14 higher education institutions operating in the Tula
region, the main ones being:
Tula State University (TSU; received the
status of a flagship university in 2017)
Tula State Pedagogical
University named after L. N. Tolstoy (TSPU named after L. N. Tolstoy)
Novomoskovsk Institute (branch) of the Federal State Budgetary
Institution "D. I. Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology of
Russia"
Tula Institute (branch of the All-Russian State University of
Justice)
International Police Academy of the VPA (former Tula
University (TIEI))
In 2021, two leading universities in the
region, Tula State University and Tula State Pedagogical University
named after L. N. Tolstoy were included in the list of candidates for
participation in the Priority 2030 programs, within the framework of
which events will be held to develop infrastructure, scientific and
educational activities, increase competitiveness, improve the system of
motivation and support for scientific and pedagogical personnel and
young scientists, etc. In the same year, an institute of advanced IT
technologies was created on the basis of L. N. Tolstoy TSPU. Within the
framework of the institute, 10 IT classes were opened on the basis of
educational institutions of the region in cooperation with the Ministry
of Education of the Tula Region. In the Tula Region in the 2019-2020
academic year, there were about 33,000 people studying at universities
in the region, and in 2021-2022 this figure increased to 43,600 people.
However, compared to the 2010-2011 academic year, their number decreased
by almost 10,000 people. This is due to both the redistribution of
potential applicants in favor of higher educational institutions in
Moscow and St. Petersburg, which are assessed as more promising in terms
of development and employment, and the increased number of applicants to
secondary specialized educational institutions after school.
The
most popular field of study among students in 2021 was "Engineering,
Technology and Technical Sciences", the main contingent of students in
this specialty is at Tula State University. The Novomoskovsk Institute
(branch) of the D. I. Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology of
Russia has a similar focus and ranks second in the region in terms of
the number of students in technology and technology.
The dominant share in the structure of organizations engaged in
scientific research and development belongs to industrial organizations,
research organizations, design bureaus and educational institutions of
higher professional education. The form of training scientific personnel
of postgraduate professional education is two postgraduate schools based
at Tula State University and Tula State Pedagogical University named
after L. N. Tolstoy. In the structure of training postgraduates in the
fields of science, the main share is occupied by technical sciences.
Since 2003, leading scientists of the region have received awards in the
field of science and technology in the amount of 200 thousand rubles.
The main scientific and research organizations of the region have
mainly a defense and chemical profile. The largest of them are: Research
Institute "Strela" (radar systems and complexes), State Unitary
Enterprise GNPP "Splav" (rocket multiple launch rocket systems,
artillery cartridges), Instrument Design Bureau (anti-aircraft and
artillery missile systems), TsKIB of sporting and hunting weapons, Tula
OJSC OKB "Oktava" (instrument engineering and radio electronics) and the
Central Research Institute of Control Systems (information technology).
On November 6, 2020, the world-class scientific and educational
center "TulaTECH" began operating in the Tula region - an association of
universities, scientific organizations and organizations operating in
the economic sector. The strategic goal of the center is to create a
managed cooperative structure for the development, production and sale
of world-class military, civilian and dual-use products and technologies
in the region by 2025. The center's work is carried out in four areas:
developments in the fields of guided high-precision weapons
developments in the fields of mining, transport and precision
engineering
developments in the fields of monomers and polymers,
composite materials and functional coatings
developments in the field
of bioorganic synthesis technologies and products, technologies for
reducing emissions and eliminating accumulated environmental damage,
environmental monitoring technologies.
Since January 21, 2021,
the Composite Valley project has been implemented on the basis of Tula
State University, which is aimed at developing the high-tech chemical
industry in Russia. The center is scheduled to begin operations in 2023
in the Uzlovaya special economic zone.
Based on the results of
2021, the Tula Region entered the top twenty regions of Russia in terms
of scientific and technological development of regions and took 19th
place with a total score of 145.9. The study used 33 indicators in three
blocks: government bodies, the environment for conducting
knowledge-intensive business, and the environment for researchers. In
the same year, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the
Russian Federation, within the framework of the national project
"Science and Universities", supported the creation of six scientific
laboratories in the region under the guidance of leading young
scientists with modern equipment, four of which will be created at Tula
State University and two at the Novomoskovsk Institute of the Mendeleyev
University of Chemical Technology of Russia.
In January 2022, the
"Center for Technology and Innovation Support" was created on the basis
of "TulaTECH" with the support of the Federal Institute of Industrial
Property, the purpose of which is to assist in stimulating inventive and
innovative activities. Also, the TulaTECH line has created a “Center for
Technological Excellence”, which will develop the existing complex of
laboratories and shared use centers.
Since 2018, the Tula Region has been participating in the
implementation of a pilot project to create a long-term care system for
elderly citizens and people with disabilities, which is being carried
out within the framework of the federal and regional project "Older
Generation" of the national project "Demography". As part of the
project, in 2019, inter-district geriatrician's offices were organized
in five medical institutions in Tula, Novomoskovsk, Shchekino and
Efremov, where specialists will consult elderly and senile patients,
including through telemedicine.
In April 2019, a regional
geriatric center was organized on the basis of the Tula Regional
Hospital for War and Labor Veterans in the village of Gritsovsky,
Venevsky District - an organizational, methodological and advisory link
for state healthcare institutions of the region in matters of providing
medical care to elderly and senile citizens. There are also geriatric
departments in the City Clinical Hospital No. 2 of Tula, the
Novomoskovsk City Clinical Hospital, the Shchyokinskaya and Efremovskaya
District Hospitals, which provide specialized medical care in inpatient
settings.
There are ten institutions in the region where elderly
people with self-care deficits and who are not fully able to cope with
independent care live, regardless of age, disability and social status.
In 2019, taking into account the need, construction began on a new
facility for 240 people on the basis of the Krasivsky Home for the
Elderly "Care" in the Chernsky District, which will become the largest
in the Tula Region. The building will meet all modern requirements,
including in terms of rehabilitation and leisure for residents.
Completion of the work is planned for October 1, 2023.
In August
2021, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Tula Region and
four private medical organizations signed agreements on the provision of
grants from the regional budget in the form of subsidies for the
provision of medical and social services to elderly citizens, including
those living in rural areas, in need of medical and social patronage. In
order to ensure the availability of social, household services and other
assistance to citizens living in remote settlements, 16 mobile teams
operate in 7 state social service institutions of the Tula Region, whose
work covers all municipalities of the region. The services of the mobile
teams cover more than 2 thousand people.
In the Tula Region,
there is a "Regional Center for Social Assistance to Families and
Children", which includes 26 branches in each municipality of the
region. In 2022, a flagship branch of the My Family Center project was
opened on its base in Tula, where you can resolve issues such as
improving housing conditions, collecting alimony, formalizing social
support measures and concluding a social contract, resolving family
disputes and improving relations between children and parents.
As
of January 1, 2022, 5,379 disabled children and 138,085 disabled people
over 18 live in the Tula Region, which is about 10.1% of the total
population of the region. Of more than 6,000 social and transport
infrastructure facilities, only about 3,800 facilities (63%) have
accessibility elements for people with disabilities, and only 436
facilities (7%) are fully accessible. Adaptation of facilities in the
field of social protection, employment, healthcare, education, culture,
which are in state ownership, and the implementation of subtitling of a
number of programs of the regional TV channel "First Tulsky" is carried
out as part of the implementation of the state program of the Tula
Region "Accessible Environment".
Since August 2016, the socially
oriented project "Care" has been implemented in the Tula region as part
of the development of social entrepreneurship and support for socially
vulnerable categories of citizens. The goal of the project is to
maintain social stability and reduce social tension in the context of
rising prices, provide social support to certain categories of citizens,
and provide a targeted system of discounts on goods and services of
project participants. The project involves the issuance and distribution
of the "Care" card among socially vulnerable categories of residents of
the Tula region, which provides owners with a system of discounts on the
purchase of goods and services provided by enterprises and organizations
participating in the project. Over the entire period of the project,
307,859 cards were issued.
On February 7, 2011, the Federal Law "On Police" was adopted in
Russia, and the Tula Region was among the first eight regions where the
new structure was approved and the staff was certified, their number was
reduced to 8,777 people. In November 2012, the Tula Region Law "On the
Participation of Citizens in the Protection of Public Order in the
Territory of the Tula Region" was also adopted, on the basis of which
voluntary public guards with operational subordination to territorial
police departments were created in the region.
In the activities
of the police departments for the purpose of preventing and solving
offenses and crimes, the law enforcement segment subsystems of the "Safe
City" APCS are used: a comprehensive video surveillance system, a
"Citizen-Police" emergency communication system, and a mobile object
monitoring system (GLONASS). There are 1,682 CCTV cameras in the region
(all digital, including 718 intelligent cameras, including 43 that
determine human biometric parameters), of which 1,323 are installed in
places of mass gathering of citizens (1,212 with the output of
information to the DC of territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs of Russia at the district level). There are 11 emergency
communication terminals "Citizen-Police" and 138 payphones with the
ability to call "02" in the region.
The results of a public
opinion poll conducted by the Federal Protective Service of Russia in
2022 showed that 68.2% of respondents in the Tula Region expressed
confidence in the protection of their personal and property interests
from illegal encroachments. 64.4% of respondents in the region expressed
confidence in the internal affairs agencies in ensuring personal and
property security.
In 2022, the rate of criminal offenses per 100 thousand residents of
the Tula region was 1104.7, which is one of the lowest in the Central
Federal District. In 2022, 15826 crimes were registered, which is 1.7%
more than in the previous year, while the number of serious criminal
acts was 4503, which is 4% less than in 2021. Fewer murders (-9.8%; 55),
rapes (-30.0%; 14), as well as thefts (-1.6%; 5902) and robberies
(-13.7%; 283) were committed than in the previous year. In 2022, there
was an increase in the number of fatalities (233; +8.9%) and a decrease
in the number of people who suffered serious bodily harm as a result of
a crime (238; -4.0%).
The number of crimes committed while
intoxicated (-13.3%; 1638) and drug-induced (-13.9%; 31) decreased. In
2022, the number of criminal activities of foreign citizens and
stateless persons increased by 2.9%. Over the past three years, there
has been a decrease in juvenile crime; in 2022, this trend was
interrupted. The total number of crimes committed with the participation
of minors increased by 4.8% and amounted to 218. There was also an
increase in crimes committed on the streets and other public places
(4844; +13.5%). Illegal activity by individuals who had previously
committed crimes increased by 11.2% in 2022.
In 2022, law enforcement agencies in the region solved 7,489 (+5.0%)
criminal offenses, including 59 murders, 128 cases of intentional
infliction of grievous bodily harm, 12 rapes, 42 armed robberies, 247
robberies, 2,514 thefts, 468 frauds, and 83 cases of unlawful seizure of
transport. The detection rate of serious and especially serious crimes
increased from 40.1% to 43.2%, including murders from 96.2% to 96.7% and
armed robberies from 96.8% to 97.7%. The detection rate for rapes was
100%. 334 crimes from previous years have been solved, including 87
serious and especially serious crimes.
In 2022, the Department of
Internal Affairs officers solved 186 (+67.6%) crimes committed by
organized groups and criminal communities, and 92 (+12.2%) participants
were brought to criminal responsibility. 926 economic crimes were
identified, of which 578 were serious and especially serious. The number
of identified crimes committed on a large and especially large scale or
causing major damage was 162. 277 corruption-related crimes were
documented. In 2022, 1,053 (+12.9%) crimes related to drug trafficking
were identified, including 892 (+14.5%) serious and especially serious
crimes. In total, more than 276 kilograms of drugs were seized from
illegal circulation.
In 2022, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of
the Tula Region, together with the Office of Roskomnadzor for the Tula
Region, organized the blocking of 46 information resources containing
materials included in the Federal List of Extremist, as well as 95 —
unreliable, in the opinion of law enforcement agencies, information
about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022, 1,617 (-6.8%) road accidents were registered on the region's roads, in which 171 (-10.9%, the lowest number since 1980) people were killed and 2,138 (-4.9%) were injured. 1,433 (-8.1%) road accidents were caused by vehicle drivers, which is 88.6% of all road accidents. Drivers who were intoxicated caused 167 (-6.2%) road accidents, in which 43 (-2.3%) people were killed and 229 (-4.2%) were injured. 151 (-11.2%) road accidents were caused by pedestrians, in which 40 (-14.9%) people were killed and 112 (-9.7%) were injured. Based on the results of 2022, the Tula Region entered the top ten regions in terms of reducing road fatalities (6th place in the regional ranking).
The regional network of MFCs includes 34 universal branches located
in the administrative centers of municipalities, which provides access
to state and municipal services on a one-stop shop basis. The share of
availability of services for 2022 was 99.89%. In 2022, a new service
became available - "Lawyer on Call", which provided the opportunity to
receive qualified legal assistance in all branches and remote workplaces
of the MFC.
In 2022, all mass socially significant state and
municipal services provided in the Tula region were transferred to an
electronic format, which is available to citizens and businesses in
electronic form on the Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services.
To provide services to residents of the Tula region, the software
product "Arsenal of Services" was developed, which integrates the
following services:
Doctor71 - accepting applications for an
appointment with a doctor;
Solve a problem - leave a complaint and
solve a problem on various topics;
Diary71 — receiving information on
the student's schedule, grades and homework;
My documents — signing
up for a service at the MFC branch.
In 2019, the region joined
the Smart Cities of the Tula Region project, which is being implemented
in Tula and Novomoskovsk until December 31, 2024, as part of the
national projects Housing and Urban Environment and Digital Economy. The
goal of the project is to improve the quality of life of city residents
by introducing digital technologies into the management of urban
infrastructure and the decision-making procedure for urban development.
An intelligent transport system has been put into operation in Tula,
which regulates traffic flows in the city based on mathematical
algorithms. This has reduced the number of traffic jams and increased
the average speed of traffic in the city by 10%. To date, 20 busy stops
in Tula are equipped with information boards broadcasting the necessary
information on traffic, and the city's network of free Wi-Fi points has
been expanded. Smart traffic lights have been installed in Tula and
Novomoskovsk to create a "green wave" that change their operating mode
depending on the need. In Novomoskovsk, near the Children's Park on
Kuibyshev Street, there is a smart pedestrian crossing that can signal
drivers in advance when it "sees" an approaching pedestrian. Smart
meters have also been installed that transmit cold water consumption
data in real time, and smart intercoms that can remotely open doors via
a mobile application, with the ability to call 112 by pressing a button
and have video surveillance with an archive storage function.
In
2021, the Tula Region took 1st place in the country in digital maturity.
One of the region's high indicators is also working with citizen
messages through the Feedback Platform (POS). Since the start of its
activities at the end of 2020, almost 30 thousand messages have been
received through the platform. Currently, the majority of executive
authorities and local government bodies, including urban and rural
settlements, as well as healthcare and educational institutions, are
connected to the platform.
The region's communications services market is quite developed and is
represented by a large number of operators and providers: 19 operators
provide local telephone services, 15 operators provide Internet access
services, 28 operators provide cable broadcasting services, and 9
operators work in the postal service sector. Currently, 100% of the
region's populated areas with a population of 250 people or more have
fiber-optic cables.
The Tula branch of PJSC Rostelecom is a
communications operator that occupies a significant position in the
telecommunications services market, providing local, intra-zone,
long-distance and international telephone services, Internet access,
digital television, data transmission services and wired radio
broadcasting. The number of main telephone sets in the public network is
about 300 thousand units. There are more than 3 thousand payphones in
the region.
Mobile communications in the region are represented
by the main operators: PJSC MTS, PJSC Megafon, PJSC VimpelCom (Beeline
trademark), OOO T2-Mobile (Tele2 trademark), OOO Scartel (Yota
trademark) and PJSC Rostelecom, which use various network standards. The
provision of communications services based on the 4G standard is
actively developing. Mobile voice communications cover 98.8% of the
territory of the Tula region. Sections of the federal highways M-2
"Crimea" and M-4 "Don", more than 1,500 km of the Moscow Railway passing
through the territory of the Tula region are provided with voice
communications and mobile Internet.
The dominant position in the
postal services market is occupied by the branch of the Federal State
Unitary Enterprise "Russian Post". More than 500 post offices provide
services to the population.
There are over 100 registered print and electronic media outlets in
the Tula Region. In order to improve the professional level of employees
and attract young personnel to the industry, the Tula Region Committee
for Press and Mass Communications annually holds training events and
professional competitions for journalists. Since 2013, the region has
hosted the Tula Media Forum, which is attended by journalists and media
executives from different regions of Russia. In 2014, the annual
competition "Masters of Tula Journalism" was approved for employees of
television and radio companies, print media.
The State
Institution of the Tula Region Information Agency "Region 71" unites 24
socio-political newspapers in all districts of the Tula Region, the
daily socio-political newspaper "Tulskie Izvestia" and 26 online
publications.
The main operator of digital and analog television and radio
broadcasting in the Tula region is the Tula Regional Radio and
Television Transmitting Center (a branch of RTRS "Tula ORTPC"), which
provides more than 98% of the population with 20 free digital
terrestrial TV channels.
Television and radio broadcasting in the
Tula region is carried out by a branch of the federal state unitary
enterprise "All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company"
state television and radio broadcasting company "Tula", represented by
the TV channels "Russia 1", "Russia 24" and the radio stations "Radio
Russia Tula", "Mayak", "Vesti FM". The broadcasting concept is
socio-political, informational and thematic programs. In addition, a
non-governmental company, the Media Trust Advertising Agency holding,
operates in the region, which includes 15 radio stations: Pi FM, Retro
FM, Radio Shanson, Humor FM, Radio Dacha, Europe Plus, Maximum, Nashe
Radio, Radio Record, Russian Radio, NRJ, Avtoradio, Dorognoe Radio,
Militia Wave, Love Radio.
Since February 4, 2013, the 24-hour TV
channel Perviy Tulskiy, founded by the All-Russian State Television and
Radio Broadcasting Company, has been broadcasting in cable networks of
the Tula Region. The TV channel broadcasts informational and analytical,
educational programs, programs for young audiences, and talk shows.
Since November 29, 2019, the programs of Perviy Tulskiy began to be
broadcast in the Tula Region as part of the Public Television of Russia
TV channel.
State-owned print media make up a significant share of the total
number of all media operating in the region. They are represented by the
regional socio-political newspaper "Tulskie Izvestiya", which is the
official printed publication of the Government of the Tula Region and
the Tula Regional Duma, as well as 24 district and city socio-political
newspapers. Each of the 24 editorial boards of district newspapers
publishes a newspaper, maintains a website on the Internet and social
networks, performing the function of publishers of documents of regional
authorities, providing information support for state policy in all
areas. A form of economic control is subsidies to the budgets of
editorial boards, limiting the economic and editorial independence of
district periodicals, while each editorial board is obliged to publish
materials on a monthly basis on topics proposed by regional political
scientists.
The only socio-political publication that positions
itself as opposition is the newspaper "Tulskaya Pravda", financed by the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation. "Tulskaya Pravda" became
famous for its activities in 2019, when the regional police tried to
confiscate all printed versions without any legal grounds.
The
main commercial printed publications in the region are the newspaper
"Sloboda", "Molodoy Kommunar", "KP v Tule", "AiF v Tule". These
publications, formally independent from the authorities, are developing
mainly as advertising and commercial ones, having imposed a taboo on
criticism of the activities of the top officials. The total weekly
circulation of newspapers at the beginning of 2023 was 62,155 copies,
and the average coverage was 6.6% of the total number of residents of
the region.
The TULASMI portal is the only site in the region that has news from
every district of the Tula region. This is an Internet resource, the
information content of which is provided by the staff of journalists
from the editorial offices of district newspapers of the Tula region,
the city newspaper Tula, the daily regional newspaper Tulskie Izvestia,
as well as the editorial staff of the portal itself.
Also among
the main Internet publications of the region are the information
agencies Tulskaya Pressa, Tulskaya Novostei, MK v Tule, the online
publication Tulskie Novosti, the portal Myslo.ru, the websites of GTRK
Tula, the TV channel Pervy Tulsky, the newspaper AiF v Tule, the weekly
KP v Tule, the newspaper Molodoy Kommunar and others. The leaders of the
media rating of the most cited media of the Tula region at the end of
2022 are the information agency Tulskaya Novostei, the Internet
resources Myslo.ru and Tulskie Novosti.
Most believers in the Tula region belong to the Russian Orthodox
Church. A significant number of religious organizations belong to the
Tula and Belyov dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church.
There
are seven active monasteries in the Tula region. One of the most popular
is the Holy Kazan Convent in the village of Kolyupanovo in the
Aleksinsky District. Other revered monasteries are the Shcheglovsky
Monastery of the Mother of God in Tula, the Venev-Nikolsky Monastery in
the Venevsky District, the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery in Belyov, the
Nativity of the Mother of God Anastasov Monastery in the Odoevsky
District, the Kazan Monastery in the Bogoroditsky District, and the
Assumption Monastery in Novomoskovsk.
The village of Sebino in
the Kimovsky District is the small birthplace of Saint Matrona of
Moscow. In 2014, the Matrona of Moscow Museum was opened in the village,
which contains more than a hundred exhibits recreating the peasant life
of that time. The rural Uspenskaya Church houses an icon with a particle
of the relics of Saint Matrona, donated by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy
II, as well as a particle of her coffin.
Since 1994, the Orthodox
Classical Gymnasium has been operating in Tula, where, along with
secular general education subjects, students are taught moral and
spiritual subjects.
There are several parish communities on the
territory of the Tula Metropolitanate that, for various reasons, have
deviated into schism and oppose themselves to the Russian Orthodox
Church: the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church in Tula, the Russian
Orthodox Church in Tula, the True Orthodox Church in Tula and
Novomoskovsk, and the Russian Orthodox Catholic Church in Tula, the
Montenegrin Orthodox Church in Aleksin.
The only Catholic Church
of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul operating in the region is located
in Tula, as well as several Protestant prayer houses in a number of
regional centers of the region. There is a Seventh-day Adventist Church
in Zaoksky, and an educational institution, Zaoksky Adventist
University.
The region's capital also has the only mosque in the
region, "Nur," and two synagogues.
The Tula region, due to its geographical location (in the center of
Russia, near Moscow, international airports, on the lines of the most
important Russian communications) and a universal complex of cultural,
historical and natural attractions, is a promising direction for the
development of domestic and inbound tourism. Currently, the most popular
are cultural and educational, gastronomic, industrial, environmental,
children's, social, rural, business tourism. The tourist flow to the
Tula region has shown steady growth in recent years. According to
preliminary estimates based on departmental data, more than 1,347.3
thousand guests visited the region in 2021, which is 18% more than in
2020. There are about 250 attractions in the region, including museums,
monasteries and temples, estates, active recreation facilities,
monuments and other attractions. There are 80 museums and their branches
in the Tula region, including 4 museums of federal significance: the L.
N. Tolstoy Museum-Estate "Yasnaya Polyana", the Kulikovo Field
Museum-Reserve, the V. D. Polenov Museum-Reserve and the Tula State
Museum of Weapons. Local crafts are of interest to tourists and
vacationers - artistic decoration of hunting weapons, samovar and
accordion production, the production of Tula gingerbread, Filimonovo
toys, Belev pastila and Belev lace.
One of the features of the
Tula region is the widespread event tourism events throughout the
region, which are presented mainly in the form of festivals and fairs.
The most popular and mass events in the Tula region are: the
military-historical festival "Kulikovo Field", the musical
ethno-festival "Wild Mint" in Bunyrevo, the theatrical festival
"Tolstoy" in Yasnaya Polyana, and the international street theater
festival "Theater Yard" in Tula, the folklore festival "Twelve Keys" in
Venev, the literary and song festival "Songs of Bezhin Meadow" in
Cherni, the pottery and clay toy festival "Tales of Grandfather Filimon"
in Odoev and the honey fair in Epifani.
On June 3, 2021, at the
XXIV St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an agreement was
signed on the entry of the Tula Region into the Great Golden Ring of
Russia. In May 2021, a digital guide to the Tula region, Travel
Inspirator Tula, was developed and released, which was presented in the
travel magazine National Geographic Traveler in September 2021. On
December 2, 2021, at the 24th session of the UNWTO General Assembly in
Madrid, the village of Bekhovo, Zaoksky District, became one of the
winners of the international competition Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO.
On October 30, 2021, a ceremony was held to include the village of
Bekhovo in the Association of the Most Beautiful Villages of Russia. On
May 28, 2021, a comedy audio performance with a route along the central
streets of Tula, “Overheard in City T”, was presented in the Tula Museum
Quarter in collaboration with the writer and creator of the Mobile Art
Theater Mikhail Zygar, which includes elements of augmented reality
(viewers can see the old city through the phone screen).
The Ministry of Sports of the Tula Region carries out state policy
and management in the field of education in the region. In order to
involve a wide range of residents of the region in systematic sports,
various mass sports events are held, such as Spartakiads, bike rides,
skiing competitions "Ski Track of Russia" and "Ski Track of Vedenin",
competitions "Race of Heroes", track and field races "Night Tula",
"Rivers Run", "Weapons Capital", "Cross of Nations", festivals of the
All-Russian Physical Culture and Sports Complex "Ready for Labor and
Defense" and others.
The most famous sports facilities of the
Tula Region:
Central Stadium "Arsenal" with a capacity of 20,048
people.
Sports complex "Ice Palace" of Tula
Multifunctional
sports center "Tula Arena"
Tula cycle track
Khimik stadium in
Novomoskovsk, accommodating 5,200 people
The most famous sports
teams of the Tula region:
Football club "Arsenal" played in the
Russian Premier League.
Football club "Khimik" plays in the second
division ("Center").
Women's volleyball team "Tulitsa".
Ice hockey
team "AKM", playing in the VHL since 2021.
Ice hockey team "Akademiya
Mikhailova", playing in the MHL since 2020.
There are 2,620
sports infrastructure facilities for physical education and sports in
the region, including 22 stadiums, 28 swimming pools, 36 winter sports
facilities, 32 sports and fitness centers, 327 gyms, and 462 sports
grounds for various purposes.
There are three ski resorts in the
region: the Dolina Kh Park, the Malakhovo complex with 14 ski runs of
varying difficulty levels and a total length of over 2 kilometers, and
the Forino complex, equipped with lifts and offering ski, tubing, and
snowboard rentals. Water sports include rafting on SUP boards and kayaks
on the Vashana, Upa, Krasivaya Mecha, and Besputa rivers, as well as
surfing and wakeboarding lessons on an artificial wave in the village of
Obidimo on the territory of the Barsukovsky quarry. Horseback riding
tours are organized by the oldest in the region Prilepsky stud farm, as
well as the equestrian clubs "Grumant", "Yasnaya Polyana", "McLaren",
"Triumph", "Captain", equestrian dacha "Velegozh" and equestrian yard on
Kulikovo field.
In recent years, the Tula region has been
actively adapting the urban environment to alternative modes of
transport, in particular to bicycles. The most developed bicycle
infrastructure is in Tula, where the total length of the network of
bicycle paths is about 20 km, and in the city there are 321 bicycle
parking points with a total capacity of more than 1,400 places. Since
2014, Novomoskovsk has had a bicycle and roller ski track, which is
located within one of the city parks and has two possible routes: 3 km
and 6 km long, the maximum difference in altitude is 28 m.