| Melitopol Мелітополь |
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Ukraine | ||
| Oblast | Zaporizhia | ||
| Established | 1784 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Sergiy Valter | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 51 km2 (19.7 sq mi) | ||
| Population (January 1, 2007) | |||
| • Total | 158,700 | ||
| Postal Index | 72300 | ||
| Twin cities | |||
| • Brive-la-Gaillarde | France | ||
| Website | http://www.mlt.gov.ua | ||
Melitopol (Ukrainian: Мелітополь, translit. Melitopol’, Russian: Мелитополь) is a city in the Zaporizhia Oblast[1] of the southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna[2] River that flows through the eastern edge of the city and into the Molochnyi Liman, which eventually joins the Sea of Azov. Melitopol is a town of regional significance (the second largest city in the Zaporizhzhya region after the regional center). Geographically, the city is in the south-eastern Ukraine, at the crossing of two major European highways E58 Vienna - Uzhgorod - Kiev - Rostov-na-Donu and E105 Kirkenes - St. Petersburg - Moscow - Kiev - Yalta. The electrified railway line of international importance goes through Melitopol. 80% of passenger train lines go through toward their destination of Crimean cities. Melitopol is also called "the gateway to the Crimea" (in the summer time road traffic in the city reaches the level of 40,000 - 45,000 vehicles per day, heading for the coast of Azov and Black Seas). Generally, the Russian language is spoken in the city.
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In ancient times, there was a small Noghai aul of Kyzyl-Yar where the modern Melitopol is settled. In July 1769, Russian military commanders built a redoubt there, and Zaporizhia Cossacks carried out their duty service there. On February 2, 1784, Ekaterina II issued the decree to create the Taurian Province on the lands that had been won back. The deputy of Novorossiya His Highness Prince Potemkin signed the relation to establish a town that very year - and Cossacks' families and those of retired soldiers of Suvorov settled on the right bank of the Molochna River. In 1816, the settlement got the name sloboda of Novoalexandrovka. Its population was increasing due to the importation of peasants from the northern provinces of Ukraine and Russia. On January 7, 1842, the sloboda was recognized as a town and received the new name of Melitopol after a port city of Melita (from Greek Μέλι (meli) - "honey") which had been situated on the mouth of the Molochna River. At the end of the 19th century, the Honey-city[3] had been developed as a trade center - there were some banks, credit organizations and wholesale stores. The largest enterprises in the city at the time were the iron foundry and the Brothers Klassen's machinery construction factory (1886), the railroad depot and the workshops. Further development of the city was closely connected with trade, iron and engineering industries, and Crimean direction railway service. In the early twentieth century there were 15 thousand people living in Melitopol. 30 industrial and 350 retail outlets operated in the city at that time. In the second half of the twentieth century there was a strong economic growth of the city: new factories, plants, and housing estates were constructed. 16 Melitopol business enterprises have received the All-Soviet Union significance status. Industrial enterprise production was exported to more than 50 countries worldwide.
In 1941, the Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany. The city became strategically important due to its location. The Red Army was not ready for the war and had to retreat. The Nazis occupied Melitopol on October 6, 1941.
The Germans kept centralized supplies. The Soviet Mezhraybaza sel'khozsnaba i himsnaba (Russian: Межрайбаза сельхозснаба и химснаба) of Melitopol still ran. In fact, a variety of agriculture items were stored at the base, including fertilizers, pesticides, tools, spare parts for reaping machines and binders, etc. It supported the running enterprises of Melitopol and surrounding settlements with goods. Since the Soviet monetary system remained, the enterprises paid the Soviet rubles and kopecks, not the German marks. Also, none of the enterprises was renamed, including the Kaganovich artel, the collective farm of the Red Cossacks, the artel of Lenin's Way. However, the Germans were not tolerant of the Soviet order. The amount of German language documents began to increase and interpreters were needed more. Most of the people who were ready to collaborate with the Germans were not competent enough in their language. Taking account of this fact, the German commanders submitted bilingualism:
To all of the heads of the villages.On receiving this, You must organize following:
For all of the establishments, which are on Your territory, You must make and write labels: For village offices, first-aid stations, hospitals, machinery and tractor stations, the offices of grain procurements, communal yard, fish factories etc. The labels must be written in the German and Ukrainian languages.—A German officer, An order the spring of 1942
Selling, buying and killing cattle and poultry were strictly forbidden; they were severely controlled so as to be sent to Germany. The meat, milk and eggs were used to feed the soldiers. Notwithstanding the general prohibition, the population might kill animals by special permission.
Direction of the agriculture team of the district as of 16-IX-42. To ask permission, one has to hand a pig over to the cattle procurement station and to receive the bill there. The considered pig's weight must not be less than 100 kg (220.46 lb). The pig, which is supposed by the owner to be killed, must not be smaller than one having been left in the station. A family is allowed to kill one pig a year, also, one more pig may be cut for two families and shared between them.—A German officer, A direction of September 16, 1942
Another way was to introduce a new holiday, to make people celebrate and eat together.
To the heads of the villages administrative boards, 29-IX-42.On October 6, 1941, the victorious armies of Great Germany have entered our territory and from this day our territory is free from Stalin's Jeudo communistic gang. To honor setting Ukrainian people free it is necessary to set a holiday to all population. Upon this day working in communities, schools and establishments must be stopped. I recommend to spend the day relaxing, having organized any games and entertainments for children and cultural rest for adults. For carrying out the holiday it is allowed to prepare vodka and to cut animals, to make a good dinner.
The communities are allowed to buy one item of horned livestock from kolkhoz farmers to make a dinner for all members in the brigades of a given community, and where the collective farm livestock is based, then it is possible to take it from the kolkhoz herd to prepare the common dinner.
On the day of the holiday, collect meeting and the head of the village board will speak with greetings...—A German officer, An order of September 29, 1942
Celebrations, which were not introduced by the Nazis, were not welcome. Feasts, plays and especially dances were prohibited until the war was over. The punishment for infringement of the prohibition was a fine and an arrest.
Melitopol has 38 monuments, memorials and statues registered.[5]
One of them is the statue of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, the famous hetman of Ukraine. His images are printed on Ukrainian 5 hryvnia's banknotes.
There is the unique relic of the Stone Grave (Ukrainian: Кам'яна могила, translit. Kamyana mohyla, Russian: Каменная могила) 12 kilometers north of Melitopol. It is a relic of sandstone from the Sarmatian epoch of the Tertiary period. Its exact coordinates are
Melitopol has justly gained the fame of the city of cherries. In the city territory there is a unique in CIS Sidorenko Scientific Research Institute of Irrigated Horticulture (Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences), that is professionally engaged in selection of stone fruit corps (cherries, apples, peaches, etc.). The main base of this research institute is located in Melitopol. There are experimental black cherry orchards located in the heart of the city. Melitopol citizens rightly call it the "city-garden".A symbol of Melitopol is Chereshnya Melitopolskaya,[6] a type of Wild Cherry for which the city is known.
Recently, the city actively created its own brand as a " City of Honey" (a version of the historical origins of the name of the town has "Greek roots": in translation "melitos" is a "city of honey"). The city formed a cluster of honey producers, prepared investment projects for the establishment of an Apitherapy center (treatment with the help of bee products) and encourages the creation of souvenir products made from honey.
In 2008, Melitopol became a member of the Council of Europe project "Intercultural Cities" and is the only Ukrainian city representing the country in this project. European countries were interested in the Melitopol experience, where representatives of more than 100 nationalities and ethnic groups have been living together in peace for more than a century. Melitopol proudly calls itself the "intercultural capital of Ukraine." An association of national-cultural societies is actively working in the city. The project on which the city works under the Council of Europe project, is called "Creation of Intercultural Park “Melita Park”. The aim of the project is to create an intercultural park where people of different nationalities could meet and communicate. There is a design project of Intercultural Park, prepared by a group of European architects and designers led by Mark Glaudemans - Director of the European Laboratory for urban planning, the Dean of the Academy of Architecture and Urbanism (city of Tilburg, Netherlands). Within this project we are also looking for partners who are not indifferent to the idea of creating a cross-cultural space and uniting different ethnic groups.
Melitopol is currently twinned with:
In 1874, a technical school was founded in the city, which, after a series of reforms and transformations, became Taurian State Agrotechnological Academy. The city now has two universities − the Taurian State Agrotechnological Academy[8] and the Melitopol State Pedagogical University.[9]
There is a well-developed, internationally important engine-constructing industry. Thanks to the rich historical heritage, economic and geographical situation and enterprising citizens the city has developed mechanical engineering, light and food industry. The city’s dynamic development is driven by engineering industries, that have received new impulse with the establishment of more than 100 new small and medium engineering business enterprises, united in the cluster "AgroBOOM”. The dynamics of the machinery transformation from a "Soviet" model to a "European" one surprises many visitors of our city. The principles of cooperation and production outsourcing are working actively. Machine engineering complex of the city is represented by 8 large plants and more than 100 small and medium-sized enterprises formed after 1991. Mechanical engineers of the city mainly produce goods for the agricultural sector: wide range of spare parts, components and assemblies for mobile equipment of local and foreign producers. Production capacity and availability of experienced, qualified staff allows entrepreneurs to design and produce parts of any complexity, including large ones. All the processes necessary to create parts can be made in the city: starting with metallurgical operations (casting) and ending with assembly and testing. There are many unique enterprises that stand out for their products and customers: • The plant "BIOL" - makes the dishes comparable to international brands, • The plant “TALCO” - collaborates with General Motors, Camozzi and Festo; • The plant “AUTOPRIVOD" is the third company in the world that has mastered the knot for YaMZ engine; • The only plant in the Ukraine that produces engines for cars “AvtoZAZ-MOTOR”; • The plant “AVTOTSVETLIT” is the only plant in Ukraine, that produces 5 types of complex castings (steel, including stainless steel, cast iron (grey and ductile iron), magnesium, aluminum); produces shock absorbers for VAZ, • The company "ROSTA" – performs the commercialization of research and innovation in the field of agricultural machinery and irrigation systems (connection of science and business), • The plant "MzTK" is a unique enterprise that produces turbines for mobile equipment, • The plant “TERMOLIT” - induction furnaces for foundry operations and other products of metal processing. The mechanic engineering of the city is valuable because it does not offer materials, but products with added value obtained after the processing of raw materials (metal). The following companies can be called the basis of light industry in the city: • Melitopol Sewing Production Enterprise that exports its goods. The factory has "dressed" the AIR France and French railway «Polaris» employees, Dutch police and firefighters, Italian tax Police, it delivers its production to a world-famous network of boutiques «Grosso-Moda» in Netherlands, • Melitopol Knitting Factory "Nadezhda" is the manufacturer of knitwear products that meet the highest requirements. The company uses cloth of both local and foreign manufacturers in its production process. Cloths are made from the cotton yarn and the combination of cotton yarn and synthetic fibers, • Furniture production is well developed: more than 20 small and medium enterprises are working in this field, distributing its products throughout Ukraine. Thanks to the proximity of agricultural areas and raw materials of Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Dnipropetrovsk regions the food industry is well presented in the city. The main enterprises of food industry are: • Melitopol Meat Processing Plant is well known in the whole country because of the high quality of its products (sausages), • Melitopol Milk Plant and Oil Extraction Plant are enterprises that belong to a major food-holding "Olkom", • Melitopol Grain Elevator. Small and medium businesses of the city are proud of their high quality production: bakery and confectionery, convenience foods (dumplings, pancakes).
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