Volzhsk (Mar. Yulser-Ola) is a city in the Republic of Mari El of the Russian Federation. Center of the Volzhsky region, which is not part of. It forms the urban district "City of Volzhsk". It is the second largest city in the republic.
The emergence of Volzhsk is associated with the immediate
proximity of the forest zone and the construction of woodworking
plants. In 1933, by the decree of the PVS of the RSFSR, the newly
arisen settlement at the Lopatinsky plant of construction parts was
assigned to the category of workers' settlements with the inclusion
of the village of Polka in it; by the same resolution, the village
was named Lopatino.
The economy and the fate of the city were
determined by the construction in 1938 of the Marbumkombinat, which
is of all-Union significance. It solved the problem of producing
technical types of paper purchased at that time abroad. The
construction of the Marbumkombinat has become a city-forming factor:
housing construction has developed, there is a need for the
construction of communal facilities, kindergartens and schools. With
the launch of the industrial giant, the settlement of Lopatino was
further developed, which in 1940 received the status of the city of
Volzhsk.
Of decisive importance for the social and economic
development of the city was the construction in the late 60s - early
70s of a hydrolysis and yeast plant, an electromechanical plant, as
a result of which Volzhsk became a city of machine builders. In
1987, the country's first joint Soviet-Italian production of
refrigeration equipment "Sovitalprodmash" was created. For builders
and workers of these enterprises were built residential
neighborhoods: "Druzhba", "Mashinostroitel", "VDK", "Severny" with a
developed infrastructure.
In the 1990s, social and economic
problems sharply worsened in the city. Volzhsk was practically
ruined. In 1999, debts for utility bills amounted to colossal
figures for the entire republic, interruptions in the supply of heat
and water began. The mayor of Volzhsk was arrested, and the
townspeople initiated a petition to move to a more prosperous
Tatarstan, which was not supported by the authorities, and the
transition did not take place. The Republic of Mari El took over the
debts on payments. The unfinished construction in the center of the
city (now - GRK Hotel Ariada) and the closure of the only cinema
"Rodina", the building of which has a unique architectural
significance and is still in a dilapidated state, are evidence of
the deepest economic crisis.
The current state of the city is
characterized by a high degree of integration with Zelenodolsk and
the Republic of Tatarstan, renewed construction in the housing and
communal and social spheres. Since 2015, work has been gradually
underway on the development program for 2015–2020, which provides
for a large-scale reconstruction. First of all, this is the
improvement of central streets, the resumed construction of
multi-storey buildings and the resettlement of emergency and
dilapidated housing, the construction of sports facilities.
The ancient Russian village of Lopatino was named by its anthroponym: a number of persons with the name or nickname Lopata, Lopatin are mentioned in sources of the 16th-17th centuries. In 1940 it was transformed into a city and received the name Volzhsk due to its location on the banks of the Volga.
Volzhsk is located on the left bank of the Volga (Kuibyshev
reservoir), in the extreme southern point of the republic, 101 km
south of its capital Yoshkar-Ola and 49 km from the millionaire city
of Kazan. In the south it borders on the Republic of Chuvashia, in
the east - on the Republic of Tatarstan.
The city has close
ties with Zelenodolsk, located 12 km to the east, and also
gravitates towards the metropolitan area of Kazan, despite the
fact that they are located in another region - Tatarstan. There is
communication with other regions by transport routes:
highway
Kazan - Yoshkar-Ola;
a section of the motorway passing through
the Cheboksary hydroelectric power station between Kazan and
Cheboksary;
railway branch of the Gorky railway Kazan - Zeleny
Dol - Yoshkar-Ola;
navigable routes along the Volga river.
Average annual air temperature - 4.3 ° C
Average
wind speed - 3.2 m / s