Bălţi

Bălţi
Seal
Municipality of Bălţi (in red) in Moldova
Coordinates:
Country	Moldova
Municipality	Bălţi
Communes	Sadovoe, Elizaveta
Founded	1421
City rights	1818
Government
- Type	Municipal Council
- Mayor	Vasile Panciuc, since 2001
Area
- City	78 km² (30.1 sq mi)
- Urban	41.42 km² (16 sq mi)
Elevation	59 m (194 ft)
Population (2004)
- City	127,600
- Density	1,748/km² (4,527.3/sq mi)
- Urban	122,700
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	MD-3100
Area code(s)	+373 231 X-XX-XX
Licence plate	BL XX 000
Website: www.balti.md

Bălţi, (pronounced [ˈbəltsʲ]) (Romanian; Russian: Бельцы, Ukrainian: Бєльці), also known as Beltsy, is a city in Moldova. It is the second largest in terms of area and economic importance (after Chişinău), and the third largest city in terms of population (after Chişinău and Tiraspol). It is one of the five Moldovan localities having the status of municipalities. Bălţi, sometimes also called "the northern capital", is the major industrial, cultural, commercial centre and transportation hub in the north of the country. It is situated 127 kilometres (79 mi) north of the capital Chişinău, and is located on the river Răut, a tributary of the Dniester, on a hilly landscape in the Bălţi steppe.

Name

The word "bălţi" (pl. of Moldavian sing. "baltă" means "swamps", "puddles", or "pools".^[1] It is believed that the city had been named thus because it was founded on a hill dominating the wetland formed where the creek Răuţel ("Little Răuţ") falls into the river Răut. The spelling Бэлць belts was used between 1940-1989 in Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet, and after 1989 is sometimes used in Russian.

Geography and territory

Vasile Alecsandri square in the city center

Bălţi is situated on the tops and slopes of hills, and partially in a small valley. The land in the north of Moldova is very fertile, mostly consisting of chernozem. Several extraction sites for raw materials used in the construction industry are also found in the vicinity of Bălţi. The creeks Răuţel, Copăceanca, and Flămândă cross the territory of the municipality, and flow into the river Răut. Also, several lakes are situated in Bălţi: City Lake, Komsolskoe Lake, Kirpichnoe Lake, Strâmba Lake. The all-time maximum temperature registered in the city was 38 °C (100 °F), the all-time minimum −32 °C (−25.6 °F). There are 350 to 450 mm of annual rainfall, mostly during summer and fall. Winds are generally from the north-east or the north-west at about 2-5 m/s. The city is situated in the 7th zone of seismic activity, with a well-felt earthquake (generally without any serious structural damage to the city's buildings) striking every 35 years on average.

The city itself is located on portions of three hills. The river Răut separates one of the hills to the north-east, the slopes of this hill are occupied by the neighborhood Slobozia. Răut's affluent Răuţel separates another hill in the south, the slopes of which are the Podul Chişinăului district. The largest of the three hills dominates the valleys of the creek and river, and contains the downtown area and the old town, Pământeni, Dacia/BAM, the 8th district, further east the industrial area Molodova. The top of this hill is occupied by the medical facilities district. Bălţul Nou neighborhood, a canoe-kayak channel, Autogara, 9th district, the area of the former Bălţi concentration camp, and the Bălţi City Airport are situated in the valleys of Răut and Răuţel.

The municipality covers an area of 78.0 square kilometres (30.1 sq mi), of which the city proper 41.42 square kilometres (15.99 sq mi), the village Elizaveta (an eastern suburb) 9.81 square kilometres (3.79 sq mi), and the village Sadovoe (a north-western suburb) 26.77 square kilometres (10.34 sq mi). Of these, an important portion (20.11 square kilometres (7.76 sq mi)) is agriculturally cultivated.

The names of city neighborhoods reflect different historic influences: 19th century suburbs: Păminteni, Slobozia, Molodovo, Podul Chişinăului; others are known by their Soviet-era names: 8th district, 9th district. A district in the northern part of the city is called Dacia, and is colloquially referred to as BAM. A district in the southern part is called Bălţul Nou, and one in the eastern part - Autogara.

History

Further information: History of Bălţi

Flag and coat of arms

Coat of arms

Current coat of arms

The current coat of arms and flag of Bălţi, elaborated by Silviu Tabac from the Moldovan State Commission for Heraldry, have been adopted by the Municipal Council in April 2006.

A shield, with alternating six silvery strips (symbolizing water), and six blue strips (symbolizing earth) form the background (symbolizing the name of the city). The central element of the shield is an archer in red clothes, in the military outfit (yellow) of Stephen III of Moldavia times (15th century). The archer represents the medieval military recruitment, formed by local free peasants.^[2]

On top of the shield there is a silver crown in the shape of fortress wall, with seven towers. (The crown represents the fact that the locality is a city. Apart from Bălţi, only the capital Chişinău, and Tiraspol are allowed to have seven towers, while other cities must limit this number to three or five.) The shield is supported by two rearing silver horses. (The white horse is the traditional symbol of the region, which was part of Iaşi County before 1812.) Under the shield there is a ribbon with the Latin inscription CIDANT ARMA TOGAE, meaning arms yield to togas.^[3]

Flag

The city's flag is composed of two horizontal strips: a blue one on top, and a silver one on bottom. The shield and archer elements from the coat of arms are also present in the center of the flag.

Historical symbols

In the Middle Ages, the archer was featured on the coats of arms of the region.

In the 19th century, the city coat of arms was for most of the time a horse head.

In the early 20th century, a shield representing an archer, standing on a hill, the sun, and three bullrush sticks (elements quite sufficient to identify the place where Bălţi is situated in the landscape of the north of Moldova) formed the coat of arms of the Bălţi county, while these and horse elements - the coat of arms of the city proper.

Administration

Bălţi Municipality is a territorial unit of Moldova (one of its 3 municipalities not subordinated to other territorial units; it has the status of municipality since 1994), containing the city itself, and the villages of Elizaveta (also called Elizavetovca) and Sadovoe.

The Mayor Office (Romanian: Primăria) is headed by the Mayor (Romanian: Primar), and administers the local affairs, while the Municipal Council serves as a consultative body with some powers of general policy determination. It is composed of 35 council members, called counselors, elected every four years. As a result of the last regional elections of local public administration held in June 2007, the Communist Party (PCRM) holds 21 mandates, 11 mandates are held by representatives of other parties, and 3 mandates by independents. There are two factions in the Municipal Council: the PCRM faction (21 members) and "Meleag" faction (3 independents and 4 representatives of different parties).

The mayor of the municipality is elected for four years. Vasile Panciuc, PCRM, is the incumbent from 2001 and was re-elected twice: in 2003 during the anticipated elections (as a result of a new reform of the administrative division in Moldova), and in 2007.

Population

Demographics

According to the 2004 Moldovan Census, data submitted by the Department of Statistics and Sociology of the Republic of Moldova, the population of municipality of Bălţi was 127,561, of which the population of the city itself was 122,669, and that of the suburban villages of Elizaveta and Sadovoe was of 3,523, respectively 1,369. Of these, 58,418 were men and 69,143 were women.^[4]

Ethnic Groups, 2004^[5]:

The census includes at least some Moldovans who had been living abroad over one year at the time of the census, and the precision of numbers about nationality/ethnicity and language is questionable, since some enumerators apparently encouraged respondents to declare that they were "Moldovan" rather than "Romanian", and even within a single family there may have been confusion about these terms, which designate a single ethnic group. ^[6]

The population of Bălţi in accordance with available census data.^[7]

In 1897 the first Russian Empire Census was carried out; in 1930 - the census of Romania (according to which of the 30,570 inhabitants of the city, 14,200 were Jews, 8,900 Romanians, 5,400 Russians and Ukrainians, 1,000 Poles; 14,400 were Christian Orthodox, 14,250 Judaic, 1,250 Romano-Catholic; in 1939 another Romanian census was carried out, but its data was never processed because of the beginning of the World War II); in 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989, Soviet Union population censuses were carried out.

Religion

At the last census^[8], 90.7% of the population (110,961 people) identified themselves as Christian Orthodox, 2.1% (2,609 people) as Baptist, 0.8% (990 people) as Catholic, 3.2% (3,960 people) as belonging to other religious groups, none more than 0.5%: 576 people as Seventh-day Adventist, 487 people as Pentecostal, 296 as Methodist, 166 as Evangelicalist, 106 as Muslim, 77 as Presbyterianist, 47 as Old Believers, 44 as Reformed, 2161 as followers of other religions 0.4% (544 people) as atheist, and 2.7% (3,304) as agnostic.

Social aspects

The post-independence decrease in the city population is mainly due to economic and demographic situation of Moldova, which prompted a wave of permanent or temporary emigration.

Remittances from the migrant workers account for 30% of Moldova's GDP, the highest percentage in all of Europe.^[9] Often, elderly relatives and children of these workers are left to live in Bălţi. Due to that, in Bălţi, many children are left with minimal parental supervision for months, or more.

The majority of the population of Bălţi is bilingual (Moldovan and Russian). About half of the city also understands and/or speaks Ukrainian.

Civil society

Bălţi is a source of civil society development both locally and nationwide. Bălţi is home to numerous independent and apolitical organisations such as Second Breath, one of the Moldovan NGOs for care of socially vulnerable persons, Tinerii pentru Dreptul la Viata ("Youth for the right to live"), a youth organisation.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Bălţi

Most of the city's industry centers on food processing, notably in the production of flour, sugar, and wine. Manufacturing of furniture and agricultural machinery also plays an important role in Bălţi's economy.

Shopping

Bălţi has several major shopping chain outlets, such as the German Metro Group AG, Ukrainian Fourchette and Moldovan Fidesco.

Numerous shops, can be found in the central (retail), eastern (en gros) and northern (retail) parts of the city. The biggest shopping galleries are located in the center and in the Dacia district (north) of the city. Souvenir boutiques are mostly found around the central square Vasile Alecsandri. The central market, busy from early morning, and its historical building offer just about anything from genuine butcher's products, all varieties of fresh vegetables and fruits, to a new dog.

Manufacturing

This city is an important economic center, with manufacturing playing an important role. Besides traditional for Moldova wine making, sugar, meat processing, flour milling, oil production, and light industry in general, Bălţi is the center for manufacturing of agricultural machinery, of various construction materials, fur, textile, chemical and furniture industries. A mammoth Soviet-type conglomerate 8,000-worker factory (called "Lenin" before 1989 and "Răut" afterwards) produced a large variety of machine building products for consumer or industry use, from irons and telephone sets to sonar equipment for Soviet military submarines. However, due to swift changes in the economic environment after the breakdown of the Soviet planned economy system, the manufacturing base of the city has severely suffered. Nevertheless, more recently, new economic ties are being created, with collaboration and direct investment mostly from the European Union.

Services

The service sector has developed after 1989 to cover little more than the basic needs of the population. A variety of small private stores and supermarkets opened. Also, there are six public-owned and four private-owned markets; these are places where small-scale businessmen or women can for a tax trade different goods: imported or local-made clothing (quite often counterfeit) or agricultural products from farms in the villages neighboring Bălţi. More recently several supermarket chains have started opening stores in the city.

Energy and utilities

The main energy supply of the city comes from the local thermoelectric plant CET Nord, which uses a variety of imported carbon-based fuel (easier to obtain and cheaper than oil). The city is well-connected by high-voltage lines, and there are recent plans for the construction of a new line. Russian-imported natural gas is distributed to households. Winter heating is partially distributed centrally throughout the city by pipelines. Although the city was often left without electricity and heating during the economic upheaval of the nationalist rule of 1994-2001, it has experienced no shortages or interruptions ever since the modernised Communist Party gained the elections. The drinking water is supplied into the pipes from a network of local artesian wells (which are insufficient) and from the river Dniester through a 60 km long pipeline connecting Bălţi to Soroca (which is not economically feasible).

Tourist industry

Hotels

• Lidolux Hotel Bălţi
• Hotel Bălţi (former Basarabia)
• Hotel Tinereţe

Nightclubs

The night life in the center of Bălţi is mainly concentrated around the central Vasile Alecsandri square, which, together with adjoining Independence street and other central squares, is one of the biggest esplanades in Europe. Numerous cafés and restaurants with international cuisine can be found there. Most of the city's feasts take place here. One of the favorite pastimes of Baltiers is an evening stroll along the Independence street and Vasile Alecsandri square.

Bălţi is home for two of the biggest clubs in the north of Moldova. The Soho Club, 500m from the city center, in the Palace of Culture the and Convention Center of the "Răut" Company, is known for its 1980-style parties on Thursdays. The A-Club, located near the Bălţi-Slobozia Railway Station, is known for its after parties on weekends for younger visitors, as well as an after-work Wednesday party.

Military

The 1st motorized infantry brigade "Moldova" of the Moldovan army (out of a total of 6 brigades - three infantry, one artillery, one airborne and one anti-aircraft) is located in Bălţi. A unit of Soviet "Tochka-M" short-range rockets, each carrying 500 kg of conventional explosive, was known to be based in the city. No up to date information is available.

Media

• Deca-press, the oldest independent press agency in the north of the country
• Spros i Predlojenie, a major Russian-speaking daily newspaper serving northern Moldova

Transportation

Main article: Transport in Bălţi

Public Transport

Passenger transport in Bălţi is mainly carried out by the Bălţi Trolleybus Authority and Bălţi Bus Authority, as well as by private bus, minibus and taxi companies. The total amount of transported passengers in Bălţi for 2004 was 35,4 million passengers.

Buses and minibuses

The Bălţi Bus Authority (B.B.A.) provides for 10 regular bus routes in Bălţi and suburbs. There are also private bus and minibus services, which are not regulated by the B.B.A. There are around 25 minibus lines in Bălţi and its agglomeration.

Trolleybuses

There are 3 trolleybus lines in Bălţi, the fourth line being planned to be constructed in 2007-2008. Most trolleybuses used by the Bălţi Trolleybus Authority (B.T.A.) are different modifications of the Soviet ZiU-682, one Czech Škoda-14TrM, three Belorussian АКСМ-20101 and three "Trans-Alfa" 5298.00 (375)

Line		Length	In service from	Number of stations	Serviced by
	Molodovo – Aeroportul Bălţi-Oraş	?.? km / ?.? miles	1970?	20	B.T.A.
	Gara Bălţi-Slobozia – Cartierul "Dacia"	?.? km / ? miles	1970?	30	B.T.A.
	Combinatul de Carne – Autogara	?.? km / ? miles	1970?	14	B.T.A.

Taxis

Bălţi offers a wide choice of taxi services (more than 5 companies), most of which with a fixed fee in the inner city. Three taxi companies are branches of Moldovan national companies, two taxi companies are Bălţi registered businesses.

The "per km/time" fees is currently being enforced by the government through difficult negotiations with taxi trade unions.

Motorways

Bălţi was and is an important transportation hub of Moldova.

The best inter-city transportation is done by coach or van (privately or publicly owned). 135 km of Soviet-style highway (portions in good or fair condition) connect the city to the capital Chişinău. By road one can also reach Ukraine (in about 2 hours) to the north or to the east, and Romania (1 hour) to the south-west by the Sculeni-Sculeni crossing point, which leads to the important Romanian city of Iaşi (104 km from Bălţi), or to the west by the Stânca-Costeşti crossing.

The Bălţi Inter-City Coach Station is one of the biggest in Moldova and provides for regular bus connections to almost any city and village in Moldova, as well as for numerous European and international connections (Eurolines).

Train Stations

Regular railroad connection to Ocniţa (north), Rezina (east) and Ungheni (south-east), as well as to Chişinău exists, however it takes today 6 hours to cover the 200 km to Chişinău.

The railroad lines are not electrified, and contain only a single track between stations. Since Moldova gained independence, the railroad lines became the responsibility of Calea Ferată din Moldova (Railways of Moldova) state company.

There are two railroad stations: Bălţi-City Station and Bălţi-Slobozia Station (the name of a city neighborhood), which both serve internal and international traffic.

Airports

Main article: Bălţi-Leadoveni International Airport

The city also has two operational airports. One of them, Bălţi-Leadoveni International Airport (colloquially mentioned as Bălţi Airport), 15km north of the city center (near the village of Corlăteni, formerly called Leadoveni), modern by Soviet standards, built in 1980s, where large aircraft can land (one 2,200 meters runway), is officially certified and operates both charter passenger and cargo flights. As of October 2007, it does not operate regular passenger flights.

A second airport, for small aircraft, Bălţi-City Airport, is located on the Eastern outskirts of the city. It was the most important airport in the surrounding region during World War II, but currently is only used for municipal and regional public services, agriculture, emergency services and pilot training.

Culture

Architecture

Cultural venues in the city include:

Theaters

• "Eugene Ionesco" Theatre
• "Licurici" Republican Puppet Theatre
• "B.P.Hajdeu" Republican Drama-Muzical Theatre
• "Mihai Eminescu" National Theatre
• "Luceafarul" Republican Theatre
• Municipal Theatre "Satiricus I.L. Caragiale"
• Vasile Alecsandri theatre

Art galleries

• "Exhibition of the Union of painters "Constantin Brâncuşi"
• Artum Art Gallery

Churches

• Saint Nicolas Church, Bălţi (1795). Although Orthodox, the building, financed by Gheorghe Panaiti, has a degree of catholic influence brought in by the architect Antuan Weismann from Galicia.
• Saint Constantine and Elena Cathedral, Bălţi (1934), Orthodox, built in neo-Byzantine style. The building, at which official opening the Romanian royal family was present, survived almost without visible effects the harsh treatment during the Soviet era, when it was for most of the time a depot, later to be turned into the municipal museum.
• Bishopric Palace, Bălţi (1924-1932), which during the Soviet time was the main office of the agricultural enterprise-institute "Selectia", and the surrounding park
• Saint Parascheva Church, Bălţi (1933), by the bishop Visarion Puiu
• Archangels Michael and Gabriel Church, Bălţi (1912-1933)
• Saint Peter and Paul Church, Bălţi (1915-1929)
• Armenian Saint Gregory Church, Bălţi (1916)
• Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church (1884)
• the oldest surviving building, a two-stories boyar house, presently right in the centre of the downtown area, dates back to 1609, but it has been re-constructed and re-modeled many times with total disregard to conservation to the extent that now it simply looks like an odd two-storey building.
• Monument of Stephen the Great (2003)
• others (see down through the text)
• others

Main article: Memorials of Bălţi

The Yiddish song “Beltz, Mayn Shtetele” is a moving evocation of a happy childhood spent in the shtetl (little town) Beltz. Its composer Alexander Olshanetsky (1892-1946) had moved to the US from Bessarabia in 1921, the lyrics are by Jacob Jacobs (1892-1972).

Education

Main article: Education of Bălţi

Primary and Secondary Education

There are 13 high schools (Lyceums):^[10]

• Lyceum "Dimitrie Cantemir"
• Lyceum "Nikolai Gogol"
• Lyceum "Alexander Pushkin"
• Lyceum "Vasile Alecsandri"
• Lyceum "Mihai Eminescu"
• Lyceum "Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu"
• Lyceum "Maxim Gorky"
• Lyceum "George Coşbuc"
• Lyceum "Ştefan cel Mare"
• Lyceum "Ion Creangă"
• Lyceum "Lucian Blaga"
• Lyceum "Mikhail Lomonosov"
• Lyceum "Alexandru Ioan Cuza"

6 professional institutions (Romanian: colegii) offering the last 3 years of high school edication and 2 years post-high school technical education:

• Republican College of Music and Pedagogy
• Pedagogical College „Ion Creangă"
• College of Medicine (Nursing school)
• Professional College of Textile Industry
• Polytechnical College
• Technical College of Railroads

14 secondary schools (numbered 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 23), 7 professional or professional-technical schools (numbered 1 through 7), and 3 boarding school, including one for visually impaired.

Higher Education

• The Alecu Russo University of Bălţi, the second biggest university in Moldova, named after the 19th century Moldovan illuminist and ethnologist Alecu Russo. The University houses one of the biggest libraries in the South-Eastern Europe, and is an important member of the implementation of the Bologna process in Moldova.
• Transnistrian Institute of Economy and Law[2]
• Moldovan Branch of the non-governmental educational institution "Baltic Institute of Ecology, Politics and Law"[3]
• Humanist Contemporary Institute

These schools teach either in Moldavian, Russian, Ukrainian, English or are mixed. The later case was inherited from the Soviet system, which provided for education in Russian and Moldavian languages, where mixed schools were created with the administration being carried out in both languages. Today, both Moldavian and Russian languages are used in the administration.

Health Protection

Bălţi Republican Hospital

The city has a big Republican hospital, another multifunctional municipal hospital, a children's hospital, and a range of other medical facilities (smaller clinics and hospitals, as well as buildings, named poly-clinics, gathering doctors offices):^[11]

• Republican Multifunctional Hospital
• Municipal Hospital/Clinic
• Children's Municipal Hospital/Clinic
• Emergency Medical Services Centre (with subsections throughout the city)
• Tuberculosis Clinic
• Hospital for Mental Illnesses
• Hospital of Moldavian Railroads
• Network of Family Doctors
• Non-Governmental Organisations
• Private Hospital/Clinic Centre of Laser Therapy "Incomed"
• Dental Clinic

Sport

• 7 sport schools in Bălţi offer programmes in following sports: (Orienteering, Volleyball, Handgun shooting sports, Equestrianism, Basketball, handball, Weightlifting, Chess, Swimming, Canoeing, Football, Athletics, Turism.[4]

• Minicipal Stadium "Olimpia Bălţi Stadium" (home of the FC Olimpia Bălţi)
• Olympic Swimming Pool "Central"
• Olympic Swimming Pool "Volna" (open air)
• FC Olimpia Bălţi is a football club playing in the top of the national division

Notable people

• Natalia Barbu, singer, represented Moldova at the 2007 Eurovision musical competition
• Gheorghe Briceag, political prisoner, dissident, and human rights activist with the Helsinki Committee, recipient of the 2004 Homo Homini Award
• Emanuil Catelli, politician, prefect of Bălţi, killed by the NKVD
• Iosif Chisinevschi, communist politician
• Eugen Coşeriu, philologist, founder of the School of Linguistics at Tübingen University
• Lia van Leer, founder and director of the International Jerusalem Film Festival
• Marian Lupu, politician, speaker of the Parliament of Moldova since 2005
• Anatol Pânzaru, actor and producer of theatre
• Ion Pelivan, lawyer and politician, co-leader of the Moldavian National Party, minister of the exterior of the Moldavian Democratic Republic, killed by NKVD
• Ştefan Pirogan, politician, mayor of Bălţi 1923-1934, political prisoner, killed by NKVD
• Vadim Pirogan, political prisoner and dissident
• Colea Răutu, Romanian movie star
• Leonte Rautu, communist politician
• Nicolae Testemiţanu, Moldovan physician, surgeon, hygienist, and politician
• Vadim Vacarciuc, weight lifter, 1997 World Champion
• Mihai Volontir, movie star
• Stela Popescu, Romanian actress and singer

International Relations

Twin Towns - Sister Cities

Bălţi is twinned with:

Consulates

• Consulate of Ukraine, address: str. Kiev 143

Cities and communes of the Municipality of Bălţi, Moldova Cities Bălţi Communes Elizaveta | Sadovoe

Administrative divisions of Moldova Districts Anenii Noi · Basarabeasca · Briceni · Cahul · Cantemir · Călăraşi · Căuşeni · Cimişlia · Criuleni · Donduşeni · Drochia · Dubăsari · Edineţ · Făleşti · Floreşti · Glodeni · Hînceşti · Ialoveni · Leova · Nisporeni · Ocniţa · Orhei · Rezina · Rîşcani · Sîngerei · Soroca · Străşeni · Şoldăneşti · Ştefan Vodă · Taraclia · Teleneşti · Ungheni Municipalities Chişinău · Bălţi · Bender Autonomous regions Găgăuzia · Transnistria1 1 The political status of Transnistria is not settled.

Notes and References

External links

• (Russian) (Romanian) balti.md - Official site of the Balti City Hall balti.md
• (Russian) Beltsy-Online private site about Balti www.beltsy.org
• (Russian) Private portal about Beltsy www.beltsy.md
• (Russian) Private site about Beltsy - www.beltsymd.ru
• (Russian) Private networking portal for Beltsy
• (Romanian) Private site about Bălţi - balti.110mb.com
• (English) (Romanian) (Russian) Deca-Press: daily city news
• (English) (Moldovan) (Russian) Turism in Bălţi at www.turism.md
• (English) (Moldovan) Official web site of "Alecu Russo" Balti State University