Kremenchuk

Kremenchuk (Ukrainian: Кременчу́к, Russian: Кременчу́г, translit. Kremenchug) is an important industrial city in central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Dnieper River. Kremenchuk is the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in the Poltava Oblast (province). As of February 1, 2013, the city's population is 225.9 thousand people.

Sunset in Kremenchug reserv.

History

Kremenchuk was supposedly founded in 1571. The name Kremenchuk consists of two words "kremen" - chert (a mineral) because the city is located on a giant chert plate, and "chuk" - from the Ukrainian "chuyu" ("I hear") - a shout of medieval helmsmen in acknowledgement of a warning cry of "Kremen!" sounded whenever their vessels approached the chert rapids while navigating down the Dnieper. An alternative explanation says that "Kremenchuk" is the Turkish for "small fortress". From its situation at the southern terminus of the navigable course of the Dnieper, and equally advantageous positioning on the crossway from Muscovy to the Black Sea, it acquired a great commercial importance early on, and by 1655, it was a wealthy Cossack town. In 1625, at Lake Kurukove in Kremenchuk, the Treaty of Kurukove was signed between the Cossacks and the Poles.

During World War II (1939-1945), Kremenchuk suffered heavily under Nazi occupation. More than 90% of the city's buildings were leveled over the course of the war.^{[citation needed]} 29 September, the day when the city was liberated from the Nazis in 1943, is celebrated in Kremenchuk as the City Day. Despite a remarkable post-war recovery and a healthier economy, Kremenchuk lacks much of the architectural charm and distinctly Ukrainian (rather than Russian) character of its sister city, the oblast capital of Poltava.

During the Cold War, Kremenchuk became the headquarters for the 43rd Rocket Division of the 43rd Army of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces.^[4] The division was equipped with R-12 Dvina intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Economy

Kremenchuk is the economic center of the Poltava Oblast and one of the leading industrial centers of Ukraine. It contributes about 7% (2005) of the national economy and accounts for more than 50% of the industrial output in the Poltava Oblast. The city is home to KrAZ, a truck-manufacturing company (one of the largest in Eastern Europe) as well as a major European oil refinery operated by Ukrtatnafta, the road-making machine works, Kremenchuk Automobile Assembly Plant, the railcar plant, the wheel plant, the carbon black plant, the steel works and others.

The light industries of the city include tobacco (JTI), confectionery (Roshen), knitting factory as well as the milk and meat processing plants.

Kremenchuk is one of the most important railway junctions in Central Ukraine (thanks to its geographical position and a bridge over the River Dnieper) and a major river port on the main river of Ukraine.

Notable residents

Emmanuel Mané-Katz, artist
Leo Ornstein, composer and pianist
Ignat Krupnytskyi, Gentleman
Avraham Shlonsky, Israeli poet and editor
Dimitri Tiomkin, film composer ^[5]

References

↑ Ukrainian Zip Codes
↑ Phone Codes for Russia, Ukraine & CIS
↑ (Russian) How new plates are decoded
↑ Mike Holm, Strategic Rocket Forces, see SRF page
↑ "Dimitri Tiomkin biography". dimitritiomkin.com. Retrieved 2012-12-29.

External links

(Ukrainian) Official homepage of Kremenchuk
(Ukrainian)/(English) Today's photo of Kremenchuk
Soviet topographic map 1:100,000

Administrative divisions of Poltava Oblast

Administrative center: Poltava

Districts

Cities

Regional	Komsomolsk Kremenchuk Lubny Myrhorod Poltava

District	Chervonozavodske Hadiach Hlobyne Hrebinka Karlivka Khorol Kobeliaky Lokhvytsia Pyriatyn Zinkiv

Urban-type settlements · Category:Poltava Oblast

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