- Ukhta
Ukhta or Uchta ( _ru. Ухта) is an important industrial city in the
Komi Republic of northwesternRussia . Population: 103,340 (2002 Census); 110,548 (1989 Census).Oil springs along the
Ukhta River were already known in the 17th century. In the mid-19th century, industrialist M. K. Sidorov started to drill for oil in this area. It was one of the first oil wells in Russia. There was homecraft oil-field in 1920–1921 in Ukhta. Lying on the river of the same name, the settlement was founded as the village of Chibyu in 1929, but in 1939 it was renamed Ukhta. It received the town status in 1943 when it was linked to thePechora Railway . To the east of the city isSosnogorsk , and to the southwest Yarega. As well as its rail link Ukhta also has anairport .Ukhta lies within the
Pechora River basin, an important oil and gas-producing region. The oilfields lie just south of the city. Some of the Ukhta's oil is refined locally; most, however, is piped tooil refineries between St. Petersburg andMoscow . There were a few gas pipeline explosions at a distance of five miles from the town since 1990s.The city expanded in the 1940s and 1950s by use of political prisoners' forced labour.
On
July 11 ,2005 , a gas explosion killed 25 people in a shop [http://www.echo.msk.ru/news/259402.html] . According to a police source the explosion was caused by a gas canister.Notable residents
*
Sergei Kapustin , former USSR national hockey team member who won the1981 Canada Cup .
*Roman Abramovich , Russian billionaire and the main owner of privateinvestment company Millhouse Capital, referred to as one of theRussian oligarchs (attended the Industrial Institute of Ukhta before being drafted into the Soviet Army).References
External links
* [http://www.uhta24.ru/ All of Ukhta]
* [http://www.murashev.com/ukhta/ DM's Ukhta site] pictures of Ukhta en icon
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