Kstovo

Kstovo ( _ru. Ксто́во) is a town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is located on the right bank of the Volga River, 22 km southeast of Nizhny Novgorod. It is the administrative center of Kstovsky District. Population: 66,944 (2002 Census); 62,414 (1989 Census).

History

The village of Kstovo was mentioned as early as the 14th century.With the construction of Novogorkovsky Oil Refinery ( _ru. Новогорьковский нефтеперерабатывающий завод) in the 1950s, a new town was built a few kilometers to the south-east of the old Kstovo village, on the high ground between the Volga and the Kudma River.

Since then, the western part of the town centered around the original Kstovo village, and still quite rural in character, has been commonly referred to as the Old Kstovo ("Staroye Kstovo"), while the newer eastern part, built in the 1950s, and still expanding, is known as the New Kstovo ("Novoye Kstovo"). As the New Kstovo expanded over the years, it completely or partially displacing several smaller villages.

Kstovo was granted urban-type settlement status in 1954 and town status in 1957.

Economy

The main employer in the town, and, historically, the reason for the town's existence, is "LUKOIL-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez" (formerly "NORSI-Oil" and "Novogorkovsky Oil Refinery").

There are also a bitumen plant, a wine/liquor distillery ( _ru. Мицар, "Mitsar"), a tire repair & recycling plant, [ [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps1733/980406sf.htm BISNIS Search For Partners, April 6, 1998 ] ] and the usual assortment of local food industry enterprises. A cogeneration power plant ( _ru. Новогорьковская ТЭЦ, "Novogorkovskaya TETs") supplies electricity into the regional electric grid and hot water for heating city apartment buildings.

The town has a large farmer's market, and a decent selection of supermarkets and retail stores.

Transport

Kstovo is served by the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod-Kazan Highway (Highway M-7), a river tanker port on the Volga, an electric railroad branch, and oil pipelines.

The city has a history of building bypass roads to keep some of the transit traffic (either the east-west traffic on M-7, or traffic destined for the petrochemical industrial area south of the city) off the city streets, only to see the development overtake them a decade or so later, the "bypass" not being a true bypass anymore. Most recently, in 2003 a highway bypass was completed a few kilometers south of the city (cutting through a section of the Zelyony Gorod forest) both taking M-7 away from the city and providing convenient road access to the Lukoil area.

The Kstovo railroad branch is primarily used to serve the needs of the oil refinery. Although commuter trains from Nizhny Novgorod's Myza terminal stop not far from both the Old and the New Kstovo, the stations are not particularly conveniently located, the trains are fairly slow and only run 2-3 times a day, and are thus popular mostly with retirees and other persons eligible for free or discount fares.

Volga hydrofoil boats used to stop at Kstovo in the 1970s and 80s, but the town no longer appears in the boat schedules. [Local hydrofoil boat service schedule for the 2006 season. [http://www.volgaflot.com/index.phtml?l=ru&s=749 Volga Shipping] (Accessed 2006-Oct-21) ru icon]

Therefore, most of passenger travel between Kstovo and Nizhny Novogorod is by road. i.e. by bus or private car. Commuter buses and "passenger vans" to Nizhny Novgorod, as well as suburban buses to villages throughout Kstovksy District run from a bus station on the west side of the New Kstovo. Some long-distance buses between Nizny Novgorod and points east (Lyskovo, Cheboksary, etc) stop there as well. There are also free shuttle buses from Kstovo's downtown Lenin Square to the Mega shopping mall in Fedyakovo, in the western part of Kstovsky District. [ [http://www.info.kstovo-nn.ru/avtobus.htm Bus schedules] ru icon]

Most summers, during the beach season, ferry boat service operates between Kstovo and the beach area on the north bank of the Volga.

Education

An Oil Industry Community College ("Neftyanoy Technicum") trains skilledworkers and technicians for the petrochemical industry.

Nizhny Novgorod Tehcnological University offers evening classes in Kstovo for the studentsstudying in its Distance Education chemical engineering program. [ [http://www.nntu.sci-nnov.ru/RUS/fakyl/VECH/kst.htm Nizhny Novgorod Technical University, Kstovo Branch] (Accessed 2006 October 24) ru icon.]

Nizhny Novgorod Military Engineering College ( _ru. Нижегородское высшее военно-инженерное командное училище), founded in 1801 in Saint Petersburgand moved in 1960 to Kaliningrad, received its current name in 1995, whenit was transferred to Kstovo.Colonel (retired) Boris Mikhailovoch Denisov, "Forgotten Anniversary". [http://www.pereplet.ru/text/denisov/denisov_inzhen.htm "Russky Pereplet" magazine, 3 November 2006] ru icon]

Culture, recreation and sports

Kstovo's most famous sporting venue is The World Academy of Sambo, which has hosted many national and international Sambo wrestling competitions. Its origins go back to 1964, when the first local Sambo club was formed. In October 1976, a Sambo School building was opened on the western edge of the city; in 1995, in time for the Sambo World Cup, a new, taller building was constructed next to it, the facility becoming known as the "World Academy of Sambo". [ [http://www.riakreml.ru/speak/?19060 "Михаил Бурдиков: После оглушительных успехов наших самбистов иностранные журналисты долго пытались отыскать на карте мира маленький город Кстово"] (An article on the history of Sambo in Kstovo) (RIA Kreml, November 2004) ru icon]

The town also has a puppet theater, a palace of culture, a public library, and an active chess club. The movie theater, popular with the citizens during the Soviet era, closed down afterthe advent of VCRs and DVDs, and part of its premises are now used by en electronicsstore.

The spiritual needs of the Christians of the town are served by three Orthodox churches in thecity and immediately adjacent villages:the Church of Our Lady of Kazan in the Old Kstovo (whose building during the Communist era was usedfor a printshop); another Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Velikiy Vrag, which was built in 1792 and is now protected as a heritage site, owned by the federal government; [http://etaz.ru/?p=law&num=66916&id=&sort=&type=gov "Agreement between the Government of Russian Federation and the Administration of Nizhny Novgorod Oblaston the separation of powers in the management of state-owned historical and cultural heritage sites.
June 8, 1996, No. 10"] [ [http://www.legis.ru/bases/doc.asp?id_document=2440 "Approval of the List of the Historical and Cultural Heritage Sites of National Importance"Executive Order No.176 of the President of the Russian Federation. 20 February 1995] ] and the Church of St.Vladimir in Vishenki.

References

External links

* [http://forum.kstovomedia.ru/ forum of Kstovo] ru icon
* [http://kstov.by.ru/ Unofficial website of Kstovo] ru icon
* [http://www.kstovo-nn.ru/ Kstovo news] ru icon
* [http://kstovo.net Kstovo information and photographs] ru icon
* [http://www.3em.ru Zemlyaki (Kstovo local newspaper)] ru icon

* [http://www.innov.ru/nnbe/13/178-1-e.htm Nizhny Novgorod Business Encyclopaedia article on "LUKOIL- Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez"] en icon
* [http://www.nne.ru/blagochin/kstovo.php The Orthodox Archdiocese of Nizhny Novgorod, Kstovo District] ru icon
* [http://pager.shacker.ru/ Anonimous pms service]