VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Izhevsk, the capital of the Republic of Udmurtia, was founded in 1760 when Prince Pyotr Shuvalov built an iron works and a workers settlement for Izhevsk on the lands of the Kazan Mirza Tevkelev.
Today Izhevsk is the 19th largest Russian city in terms of population (611,000 or about 40% of the total population of Udmurtia). Izhevsk is second in terms of the number of births per thousand among the regional centers in the Volga Federal District. In 2009, Izhevsk reported a natural population increase (by 803 people) for the first time since 1992.
The city has more than 2,500 industrial enterprises, the largest being the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, Izhstal, the Izhevsk Mechanical Works, the Izhevsk Motor Plant Axion Holding, the Izhevsk Electrical Mechanical Plant Kupol and the Izhevsk Plastics Factory.
These enterprises mainly produce steel, medical equipment, plastic products, machine tools and defence products. Various military communications electronics equipment is developed and produced, including for air defence, onboard and ground radio systems, telecommunications systems, sporting, hunting and combat weapons, etc.
In terms of the average monthly wage of the employees of large and medium-sized enterprises, Izhevsk is in sixth place among the cities in the Volga Federal District. Wages increased to 16,615.4 roubles in the first half of this year which is an increase of 7.8% over the same period in 2009. More than 30% of the total gainfully employed population in Izhevsk work in industry. Before the financial crisis unemployment in the city was under 1% and there were 1.5 times more vacancies than job seekers. As of January 1, 2010 unemployment (among city's labour force) stood at 2.6%. Beginning from March 2010 unemployment has been going down. And on August 1, 2010 unemployment was 1.72%.
Izhevsk has been implementing a municipal housing programme since 2006. Over the past five years the city has built more than 975,000 square metres of housing and overhauled 219 blocks of flats. As a result of the programme, more than 52,000 citizens have improved housing conditions. In 2010, about 657 million roubles will be spent to repair 237 blocks of flats.
The republic is giving a great amount of resources and attention to the development of the social sphere. Between 2007 and 2009, 2,602 additional places were created in the city's kindergartens, which cut the waiting list for preschools by more than half. At present, 77% of the demand for early childhood education facilities has been met, which is way above the average level in the Russian Federation. Between 2010 and 2014, an additional 2,535 places at municipal preschool centres in Izhevsk are to be made available. Izhevsk regularly hosts various international music festivals, including the annual Tchaikovsky Competition. The city also takes part in international humanitarian projects. In 2008, the Council of Europe picked Izhevsk out of 70 Russian cities to take part in the pilot project called Intercultural Cities.
