Yelabuzhsky District

Yelabuzhsky District (Ела́бужский райо́н; Алабуга районы) is a territorial administrative unit and municipality of the Republic of Tatarstan within the Russian Federation. The district is located in the north-east of the republic and occupies an area of 1362.1 square kilometers (about 525.9 sq mi). According to the 2010 census, the municipality had a population of 81,632. The main city Yelabuga is not included within the administrative structure of the district.

According to archaeological records, the Yelabuga settlement was first established in the age of Volga Bulgaria, arising at the confluence where the Poima River meets the Kama. In 1236 these lands fell under the control of the Golden Horde. In the 17th century, the Tatar settlement of Alabuga was renamed as Tryokhsvyatskoye. In 1780 it received the status of a city and the name Yelabuga which became a part of the eponymous county (uyezd) within the Vyatka governorship. Since 1920, the city has been part of the Yelabuzhsky and Chelninsky cantons. The Yelabuzhsky district was first formed on August 10, 1930. Throughout the 20th century, the district’s borders have changed repeatedly.

The “Alabuga” SEZ — the largest and most successful special economic zone dedicated to industrial and production of its type in Russia — is located in the region. The site was opened in 2005 for the development of the regional economy and attraction of investment, and as of 2020 had 65 resident companies. In 2019 investment by residents of the zone in the regional economy amounted to about 200 billion rubles.

Geography and Climate
The Yelabuzhsly district is located in the north-east of the republic and shares borders with Mendeleyevsky, Mamadyshsky, Nizhnekamsky, Tukayevsky districts, Naberezhnye Chelny as well as the Udmurtia (Grakhovsky and Kiznersky districts). It has a temperate continental climate and distinct seasons — hot summers and cold winters. The largest rivers of the region are the Kama, Vyatka, as well as their tributaries (with a total length of more than 20 km):
 * the Kama basin — Toyma, Tanaika, Yurashka, Karinka, Kriusha;
 * the Vyatka basin — Umyak, Anzirka, Yurashka.

The district includes the national park “Nizhnyaya Kama”, where mixed forests, taiga and meadow steppes are located together in a nature zone. This park is unique in that the vegetation characteristic of three natural zones are found here with woodlands existing adjacent to forest-steppe and floodplain-meadow landscapes. The national park is home to 620 plant species, 80 lichen species and other flora. 65 species of plants, 153 species of birds and 478 species of invertebrates live here, many of which are endangered species included in the republican Red List and the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation. One of the main purposes of the national park is to preserve the so-called “Shishkin landscapes” — local landscapes captured on the canvases by the famous Russian artist Ivan Shishkin who was born and grew up in Yelabuga and the accompanying ecology of the region. The administration of the “Nizhnyaya Kama” park includes purposefully designed eco-trails and excursions, some of which are named after Shishkin's most notable paintings: "The Holy Spring near Yelabuga", “Krasnaya Gorka near Yelabuga”, “Korabel’naya Grove” and other trails. Archaeological sites of the ancient Yelabuga settlement, the Ananinsky burial ground and other sites of historical and cultural heritage are also located in the district.

The ecological issues facing the region are becoming more and more acute for the administration and residents of the district. District activists are concerned about the air pollution caused by emissions from petrochemical plants in Nizhnekamsk and Naberezhnye Chelny. In August 2020, within the framework of the Volga Rehabilitation federal project, treatment facilities were reconstructed on the territory of the Alabuga special economic zone as part of efforts by federal and republican authorities seeking to reduce the negative impact of industrial enterprises on the environment.

Flag and Coat of Arms
In 2006-2007, the Council of the Yelabuzhsky municipal district approved its new heraldic insignia. The modern coat of arms is based on the Yelabuga’s historical emblem of 1781, when it was a wealthy merchant city. In the center of the shield, there is a black oak stump with a red woodpecker with golden eyes and a beak sitting on it on a silvery-white background. The stump with the bird is located on a green hill. At the bottom of the shield is a black ribbon strewn with white vertically positioned billets. The flag of Yelabuga is based on the 2006 coat of arms. The main plot is preserved, however, in the upper part, instead of a silver background, a white one is presented, and a green hill is replaced by a flat line. In the bottom part of the canvas, instead of the billets, three black and two white stripes of different widths alternate. The flag has a width-to-length ratio of 2:3.

Etymology
Yelabuzhsky district derives its name from the city of Yelabuga. The modern city was first established in the second half of the 16th century as the Tatar settlement of Alabuga. As the geographer Yevgeny Pospelov states, the toponym comes from the Turkic personal name Alabuga, which could literally mean “motley bull”. After the conquest of the Kazan Khanate and Russian colonization, the settlement was renamed into Tryokhsvyatskoye. Along with this, the distorted title of Yelabuga is used.

History
In the mid-19th century, Yelabuga local historians Professor Kapiton Nevostruev and the merchant Ivan Shishkin, the father of the famous artist, while exploring the burial ground in the village of Ananyino in Yelabuzhsky uyezd, discovered the remains of ancient settlements of the 8th-3rd centuries BC. This discovery made the Yelabuga region a center for the study of archaeological cultures of the Early Iron Age in the Middle Volga and Kama regions. Archaeological and historical studies of the Ananyino era continued through the Soviet as well as post-Soviet periods.

Historians have established that the first Turkic tribes arrived on the territory of Tatarstan in the 3rd-5th centuries AC. In the mid-10th century, the lands of the modern Yelabuzhsky district belonged to Volga Bulgaria. At the turn of the 11th century, the Bulgars built a fortress at the confluence of the Poima and Kama rivers to protect the northeastern borders of their state. The fortress was square in shape and had towers with a diameter of 6 and 10 meters. A minaret was built at the western tower, the tip of which pointed to Mecca. The remains of the southern fortress tower were restored and fortified in 1867 at the initiative of Ivan Shishkin. The ancient Yelabuga settlement was an important stronghold on the trade route to the Middle and Upper Kama regions. In 1236, Batu Khan conquered the Bulgar lands and the settlement, together with the surroundings, became part of the Golden Horde. In 1438, as a result of the collapse of the Tatar-Mongol state, the Kazan Khanate was formed, which was administratively divided into 5 darugs.

The main part of the present region, together with Yelabuga, was part of the Chuvash (later renamed Zureyskaya) Daruga, and the northern part of the region passed into the Arskaya Daruga of the Kazan Khanate. In the 1550s, after the annexation of Kazan by the Muscovite state, the first Russian settlements appeared in the region. In 1614-1616, the Trinity Monastery was built near the ancient settlement. The small Tatar settlement of Alabuga was named Tryokhsvyatskoe in honor of the icon of Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom brought here by colonizers.

In 1708 the Kazan province was formed along with Tryokhsvyatskoyea, becoming a part of the Kazansky uyezd. In 1780, Tryokhsvyatskoye received the status of a city with the name Yelabuga as part of the eponymous uyezd of the Vyatka governorship (since 1797 - the province). By 1916, the Yelabuzhsky uyezd consisted of 23 volosts. In 1920, the Yelabuga canton was formed within the Tatar ASSR. At the time of its formation in August 1930, more than one hundred thousand people lived in the Yelabuzhsky district.

Throughout the 20th century, the borders of the region were altered repeatedly. From 1931 to 1935, Yelabuga included the territory of the Bondyuzhsky district. In February 1944, the Kosteneevsky district was separated from the Yelabuzhsky district. In 1954, the Mortovsky district was abolished, and its territory became part of Yelabuga. In February 1963, the territory of the abolished Bondyuzhsky district became part of the region, and in August 1985, the Mendeleevsky district was separated from it.

Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Yelabuzhsky District is one of forty-three districts in the republic. The town of Yelabuga serves as the administrative center of the district, despite being incorporated separately as a town of republic significance — an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.

As a municipal division, the district is incorporated as the Yelabuzhsky municipal district, with the town of republic significance of Yelabuga being incorporated within it as the Yelabuga Urban Settlement.

Currently, the district executive committee is subordinate to the Council, the head of the district and its residents. Among the main departments of the committee are the registry office, the department of architecture and urban planning, the department of accounting and distribution of housing, the sector for work with rural settlements, the department of guardianship and trusteeship, the district archive and a number of others. From November 2020, the position of the head of the executive committee has been occupied by Lenar F. Nurgayanov. The head of the Yelabuzhsky district and the mayor of its administrative center is Rustem M. Nuriyev.

According to the results of the 2010 census, Russians made up 51.7% of the region's population, Tatars were 42.6%, 1% were Chuvash, Udmurts made up 0.8% and Mari 0.2%. For 2018, the birth rate per thousand people was 11% while the death rate was 10.1%. In 2019, both indexes decreased; the birth rate was 10.1% per 1000 people, and the death rate was 10%. Accordingly the rate of natural population growth in 2019 was 0.1%. 86.41% of the population live in urban areas.

18th-20th Centuries
In the 18th-19th centuries the region’s population was primarily engaged in arable farming, cattle breeding, fishing and trades. In this era, a number of distilleries, glassworks, iron foundries, soap factories operated in the district. In the 19th century, Yelabuga was one of the richest merchant cities within the Vyatka province. By the end of the century, the merchant class consisted of 600 merchants, the most famous of whom were the Stakheev, Ushkov, and Chernov families. The merchant of the second guild, Ivan Shishkin, served as mayor in Yelabuga. On his initiative the first wooden water supply system was installed in the city in 1883.

In the 20th century, the economic growth of the region was closely connected to the development of oil fields. In the 1930s, geophysical and geological surveys were carried out in the Kama valley, discovering mineral deposits near Yelabuga. In 1950-1951, drilling work began there and a few years later the first oil fountain gushed near the village of Setyakovo. In 1961, the Prikamneft oil and gas production department (NGDU) began operations, making Yelabuga the center of oil production of the region. The difficulty of drilling was determined by the fact that the project was carried out in the flooded zone of the Nizhnekamsk hydroelectric power station and marked the first time in the history of Tatarstan that oil wells were placed on specially organized dams and islands. The 1970s were the time of the highest oil production in the region with the annual volume of production reaching 5,867 thousand tons in 1977. At the beginning of the 2000s, Prikamneft ranked second among the Tatneft departments in terms of the oil produced.

Contemporary Economic Situation
The economy of the Yelabuzhsky district is based on primary industries, as well as on the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors. The manufacturing sector specializing in mechanical engineering and food processing is the leading economic engine of the region. Of the primary industries, mining makes a significant contribution to the regional economy, while the infrastructure sector is also well developed and has demonstrated a high level of attractiveness for investment. Large oil companies are located in the region, among which are Prikamneft, Tatneft-Burenie and PrikamNefteStroyServis. The district is also home to the Yelabuzhskii avtomobilniy zavod (the Yelabuga Automobile Plant), the industrial companies Yelabuga UkuprPlast and KamPolyBeg, as well as the food industry enterprises “Essen Production AG” (producing famous mayonnaise brand “Makheev”) and “Alabuga Sote”.

The agricultural sector plays a significant role in the regional economy. In 2019, the area of land dedicated to agricultural use exceeded 84 thousand hectares, 58 thousand of which were arable. In the same year, the average salary in the agricultural sector was about 19 thousand rubles which is three thousand less than the republic average for salaries in the same industry. The most notable agricultural enterprises in the district are Kolos, the Yelabuzhskoe khlebopriemnoe predpriyatie (Yelabuga grain-receiving enterprise), the Novy Yurash agricultural company and a number of individual farms.

For 2020, the average salary in the Yelabuzhsky district amounted to 42 thousand rubles while in Tatarstan the average was only slightly greater than 37 thousand. Among the urban municipalities, Yelabuga ranks third in rankings of social and economic development. The district unemployment rate of 4.63% is one of the highest in the republic and has grown significantly as a consequence of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. For instance, from April to June 2020, the unemployment rate in the region tripled. The situation is expected to normalize after the pandemic.

The district administration is primarily preoccupied with the development of agriculture and the growth of local investment. Particular attention has been paid to the livestock and dairy industries that represent the main sources of income from regional agriculture during the off-season. In 2020, the implementation of a large-scale project for the construction of the “Mir” dairy complex for 2,200 head of cattle began in the Yelabuzhsky region. The first 408 Holstein cows were brought from Denmark to the local farm in July 2020. Total investment in Mir currently amounts to 620 million rubles and it is planned that the plant will produce up to 50 tons of milk per day. The head of the region Rustem Nuriyev believes that the construction of the dairy complex will contribute to the development of agriculture in the region as well as its investment potential.

Yelabuga is one of the leading tourist destinations in Tatarstan: in 2018, the city was visited by more than 500 thousand tourists, and in 2019 it became the third most visited urban center in the republic after Kazan and Sviyazhsk. Resultantly, the city and district authorities are planning to develop tourism business and infrastructure.

Investment Potential
The Yelabuzhsky district is one of the ten largest and most promising industrial regions of Tatarstan, placing 8th in the ranking of socio-economic development for the first half of 2020. According to the Federal State Statistics Service for the Republic of Tatarstan, investment in the fixed assets of the region amounted to about 15 billion rubles in 2019, or 4.2% of total investment in the Republic of Tatarstan. From January to July 2020, the district attracted about 5.6 billion in investment in fixed assets, excluding budgetary funds. Most of these funds were channeled to the procurement of machinery and equipment, buildings and intellectual property. During the same period, more than 32 thousand square meters of housing were commissioned in the urban districts of the region, which is 12 thousand more than in the previous year.

A significant contribution to the regional economy is made by the SEZ “Alabuga” — the largest and most successful special economic zone of industrial and production type in Russia. This special economic zone with a footprint of almost four thousand hectares was opened in 2005 to develop the regional economy and attract investment. Three industrial parks, an office center, and a university along with necessary engineering and operational infrastructure operate on the territory of "Alabuga". As of 2020, 65 resident companies are partnered with “Alabuga”, including HAYAT, Rockwool, Armstrong World Industries, Transneft, Ford and others. In 2019, the total volume of investment by residents of the zone amounted to more than 200 billion rubles. Among the favourable conditions created within the zone are tax and customs privileges, low rental prices, and the proximity of the M7 federal highway. In the coming years, SEZ management plans to attract twice as many residents and create favorable conditions for small and medium-sized businesses.

Transport
The Yelabuzhsky district is located in the Naberezhnye Chelninskaya agglomeration zone near the road and railroad crossing over the Kama. The special economic zone “Alabuga” and the industrial sector contribute to the development of the road network in the region. The federal highways M-7 (Volga) “Moscow—Kazan—Ufa” and M-7 “Yelabuga—Izhevsk—Perm” and the regional autobahns “Naberezhnye Chelny—Mendeleyevsk” pass through the region. The city of Yelabuga is located 215 km from Kazan and 26 km from Naberezhnye Chelny.

The “Agryz—Naberezhnye Chelny—Akbash” railway line runs in the southeast of the district, and a branch to the Alabuga SEZ runs in the northwest. The nearest railway stations are Traktornaya and Berezka. The region is also characterized by navigation on the Kama and Vyatka rivers; the nearest marinas are in Yelabuga and near the village of Tanaika.

Social Welfare and Public Life
Medical care in the Yelabuzhsky district is provided by the Yelabuga central regional hospital (CRH), city outpatient hospital and the Yelabuga tuberculosis dispensary. The CRH departments include a hospital, maternity ward, children's polyclinic, dermatologist-venereology, narcology, 23 medical and obstetric and 3 health centers as well as other departments.

Recreational opportunities are provided by 255 sports facilities have been built in Yelabuga and the surrounding area, including two stadiums, an Ledovyi Palace, more than a hundred gyms, an athletics arena, ski resorts and skating rinks.

In the 2018/2019 academic year, more than 30 general education schools, 43 institutions for preschoolers and four secondary specialized educational institutions operated in the region. Four universities were opened in Yelabuga: the Yelabuga branch of the Kazan Federal University, a branch of Kazan State Technical University named after Andrey Tupolev and the Academy of Social Education and Institute of Social and Humanitarian Knowledge. In January 2020, the district admo=inistration held a meeting on the progress of regional education. Representatives of educational institutions and the head of the district Rustem Nuriyev discussed the creation of a coordination council and a new project for the development of the education system. It was determined that the council should include directors of schools and other educational institutions, representatives of the SEZ and workers of cultural institutions. According to the district administration, the new project should promote the popularization of the concept of Yelabuga as a "city of education and culture".

There are one regional and 16 rural houses of culture as well as more than 20 libraries in the district. The largest cultural institution in the district is the Yelabuga State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve covering an area of 131 hectares. On the territory of the museum-reserve there are 184 sites of cultural and historical heritage, including 6 of federal and 106 of republican significance. It includes a museum of the city's history, a memorial house-museum of Ivan Shishkin, a literary museum of Marina Tsvetaeva, a Museum of district medicine named after Vladimir Bekhterev, a museum of contemporary ethnic art and other institutions. Since 2008, the Yelabuga Museum-Reserve has annually held the traditional Spasskaya Fair, the heyday of which dates back to the pre-revolutionary era. Events were canceled in summer 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, the newspapers “Novaya Kama” and “Алабуга нуры” (“Luch Yelabugi”) are published in the district in the Russian and Tatar languages.