The Samara Region The following information was primarily derived from the Web Site at http://www.adm.samara.ru/indexen.asp. Geographical Position The Samara Region is situated in the south-eastern part of the European Russia in the middle part of the Volga, Europe's biggest river, and occupies the area of 53,600 square kilometers that is 0.3% of the territory of Russia. In the north it borders the Republic of Tatarstan. In the south, it borders the Saratov Region. In the east, it borders the Orenburg Region and in the north west, the Uliyanovsk Region. The Region stretches for 335 km from the north to the south and for 315 km from the west to the east. Being a forest-steppe zone, the Region is covered by the pine and deciduous woods in the north, and its southern part is occupied by the steppe. The largest mountain-mass and at the same time one of the most beautiful places of Russia is the Zhiguli Mountains, situated immediately in the river Volga bend - "Samarskaya Luka" in Russian. Apart from the Volga, the main waterway of the region, the major rivers are the Samara, the Sok, the Kinel, the Bolshoy Irghiz and the Kondurcha.   Minerals and Natural Resources The main minerals of the Region are oil and gas by-products. Exploration and development of their deposits and processing have long become an important component of the Region's economic potential. Other kinds of minerals of the earth's crust in the Samara Region include oil-shales, silicious clay, native sulphur, mineral and rhodon water, salt, building stone and other substances and minerals of high economic value. Since the Volzhskaya hydro-electric power station was built in 1957, the water of the Zhigulyovskoye More reservoir formed upstream the dam which has become an important energy source. Despite the strongly pronounced industrial character of the Region, wildlife sites and nature are carefully preserved here. The key role in that belongs to the nature reserves and protected lands, firstly, the Samarskaya Luka National Park, the Zhiguli State Reserve named after I. I. Spryghin and the Buzuluksky Bor Reserve. Elk, deer, wild boar, roes, wolves, hares, foxes, badgers, dozens of species of birds, fishes, insects and unique endemic plants are found in the Region.   Climate The Samara Region has a sharp continental climate with an annual air temperature average of +3.8 degrees centigrade. The average temperature in January is -13.9 degrees centigrade and +20.1 in July. Adjacency to the waterless Asian deserts affects the southern part of the Region resulting in recurring droughts there. This very circumstance makes a good deal of land in the Region undesirable for farming.   Population The Samara Region's permanent residents number 3,306,000 people, including 2,662,000 who live in town, and 643,000 who live in the country. The major cities are Samara (1,210,600 citizens), Togliatti (721,100), Syzran (187,300), Novokuibyshevsk (117,600), Chapayevsk (86,700), Zhigulyovsk (59,800), Otradnyi (53,400). The ethnic composition of the Region is multinational. The majority belongs to the Russians - 83%. Other nationalities number as follows: the Tatars -4%, the Mordva - 4%, the Chuvash - 4%, the Ukrainians - 2%, the Belorussians - 1%, the Kazakh - 0.4%, the Jews - 0.4%, the Germans - 0.3%, the Bashkir - 0.2%, the Mari - 0.1%, other - 1%. Nowadays the Cossack movement, the first free settlers on this land, is reviving.   History According to the archaeological data, the first human settlements on the territory of the Middle Volga area emerged in the period of the late Paleolith. Hunting was the major pursuit of ancient people. There were plenty of wild animals in the area - hairy rhinoceros, mammoth, aurochs, elk, giant deer and so on. In ancient times, Scythian-sarmatian tribes roamed on the territory of the future Samara Region. This is known by the archaeological artifacts from the sepulchral mounds built by those people. Since the 7th century, the Middle Volga area fell under the influence of the Khazar Khanate, though after the defeat of that state in the 10th century by the troops of the Kiev prince Svyatoslav, the peoples of the Volga region eliminated Khazar rule. In the Middle Ages, the southern border of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria ran through the territory of the present Samara Region. After the army of the Mongol Khan Batu invaded Europe in the 13th century, the Middle Volga area for a long time became a part of the Golden Horde, and later, of its successor - the Kazan Khanate. In 1391, one of the greatest battles of the medieval era between the armies of the Central Asia sovereign Timur and the last Golden Horde ruler Tokhtamysh took place at the river Kondurcha, and Timur won. As Russian power and influence increased, the exclusively favorable position of the Middle Volga in areas of economy and defense made the Muscovite sovereigns grow interested to this land. Soon after the fall of Kazan, by the order of Czar Fedor Ioannovich in 1586, a fortress was founded at the mouth of the river Samara as an outpost of the Russian state against the raids of nomads. The fortress was named after the river. The first Samara voevode (military commander) was Prince Grigoriy Osinfovich the Prince Zasekin. The origin of the name Samara as such is more like an enigma, and its meaning has been lost in time. But, as far back as the Venice geographical maps of the 14th century, a convenient quay named Samar was marked at the Volga bend near the present Samara. Apparently, the meaning of the word Samara is hidden in the forgotten language of some long extinct nation. A brisk intersection of trade routes, fertile soil, rich pastures and abundant fisheries stimulated an influx of people and boosted colonization of this land. In 1850, the Samara province was promoted to the status of a separate administrative unit. It was popular all over Russia as a major center of wheat trade and agricultural production. Outstanding figures of national and foreign culture came from here including Alexey Tolstoy, Korolenko, Garin-Mikhaylovsky, Gorky, Repin, Gasek and others. Dramatic developments occurring in Russia in the early 20th century, did not miss the Samara land. Three revolutions, the First World War and civil war deeply impacted the history of Samara. As was usual at that time, the city Samara was named after Kuibyshev, and the region was renamed accordingly. In its present borders the Region has existed since December 1936. Samara became one of the nation's biggest industrial centers during the Second World War as a result of the evacuation of a number of engineering and aircraft production units here from the western regions. And after most of the government offices and diplomatic corps had moved to Samara later in 1941, the city was rightfully called the "capital of the rear." In the post-war period, the Region continued to build up its economic potential developing oil, aerospace engineering, hydro-energy and motor-car industries. Nowadays, the Samara Region is one of the major contributors to the industrial might of Russia along with Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and the Ural. In 1990 the historical name was reverted to the city and the region - Samara and the Samara Region. Administrative and Territorial Division By administrative and territorial division, the Samara Region consists of 11 districts (Samara and Togliatti are divided into a total of 12 boroughs), 24 townships and 27 counties. There are 324 country administrative units. The Region comprises the following cities: Samara, Togliatti, Syzran, Novokuibyshevsk, Chapayevsk, Otradnyi, Zhigulyovsk, Oktyabrsk, Kinel, Pokhvistnevo, Neftegorsk. The rural districts' centers are: Alexeyevka, Bezenchuk, Bogatoye, Bolshaya Glushitsa, Bolshaya Chernigovka, Borskoye, Elkhovka, Isakly, Kamyshla, Kinel, Kinel-Cherkassy, Klyavlino, Koshki, Krasnoarmeyskoye, Krasnyi Yar, Neftegorsk, Pestravka, Pokhvistnevo, Privolzhye, Serghiyevsk, Syzran, Khvorostyanka, Chelno-Vershiny, Shentala and Shigony. Samara and Togliatti are centers of the suburban districts: respectively, Volzhskyi and Stavropolskiy.   Authorities and Government According to the Statute of the Region adopted in December 1995, the supreme officer and head of administration of the Region is its Governor elected for a tenure of four years. Konstantin Alexeyevich Titov become the first governor to be elected by universal voting. The Samara Region's representative and legislative body of the state power is the Samara Government (Gubernskaya) Duma consisting of 25 deputies elected also for a tenure of four years. The towns and districts are governed by democratically elected bodies of the local government.   Economy and Industry The Region's economy is both industrial and agrarian by nature and diverse by the forms of ownership. The Region's GDP (without import and export of goods and services) was estimated later in 1996 at 53,919 billion RUR. 75% of all businesses are private, 6% are municipal and only 4% - state-owned. Cooperative ownership is featured by 4% of businesses, and 10% belong to other kinds of ownership. Among 50,657 enterprises registered in the Region some stand out for their size and level of technological outfit, namely: the LADA car works, JSC Aviakor (aircraft works), JSC Sameco (aluminum works), JSC SamaraNefteGas, TogliattiAzot, SintezKauchuk, KuibyshevPhosphor, the Volga hydroelectric power station, Progress works and many others. The Region's output is well-known, including LADA cars, Tupolev-154 aircraft, space rocket-launchers Proton and Energiya, space lab equipment Soyuz-Progress, space apparatuses: Foton, Bion, Resurs, high precision bearings, lathes, communications cables, unique items of the heavy engineering industry, construction materials, "Rossiya" chocolate candy, "Rodnik" vodka. The Region exports oil, cars, aircraft, nitric fertilizers, synthetic rubber, aluminum, chocolate candy, alcohol, garments and many other items of the Samara light and heavy industries' produce. About 120 joint and foreign enterprises are registered and operating in the Region. The major foreign partners of Samara entrepreneurs include Germany, U.S., Ukraine, China, Italy and Bulgaria.   Agriculture Agriculture is represented for the most part by the produce of plant-growing and stock-raising with the appropriate processing production. The total area of arable land is 3.9 mn. hectares of which 2.8 mn. are ploughed fields. The plants of wheat, corn, sunflower, barley, buckwheat and oats occupy the majority of the arable land. One should note the well-organized production of the quality potato, which allowed not only self-sufficiency, but to enable the region to export this product. Moreover, sugar-beets and vegetables are grown in the Region. The Samara stock-breeders pay special attention to pig-breeding, poultry, as well as livestock-raising. Sheep-breeding, horse-breeding and fish-farming are less developed. The Region's agriculture fully supplies the population with food stuffs except sugar. Sugar is shipped from other regions.   Transport The Samara Region is one of the biggest transport centers of Russia which lies on the crossroad of the shortest routes from Central and Western Europe to Siberia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan. In 1996 alone the cargo turnover was 73.2 mn. ton. The bulk of the passenger and freight traffic is carried by motor transport. Its share in the volume of the whole freightage is 43%. A network of main roads (12728 km) fosters transport. The pipeline transport is an important element of the Region's transport system - its share is 29.4% of the total freightage. The rail transport is next in value; it carries 22.8% of freight traffic. There are 1390 km of the general purpose railroad, and some sections of the roadway match the most up-to-date requirements, and the span Syzran-Kinel is one of the world's most intense. The internal river waterway of the Samara Region is 525 km long, and 4.8% of freightage is carried by water. The "Volgotanker" shipping company, based in Samara, is known worldwide. There are three airports in the Samara Region, including the Samara airport, the largest one among other Volga regions. It is situated halfway between Samara and Togliatti. A lot of passengers are carried by buses, trolley-buses and trams. In the Region's center the subway carries a large amount of people. The Samara Region has one of the biggest centers of communications lines connecting 11 regions of Russia. Automatic trunk-call and long distance dialing is available to 840 places of the CIS and the world.   Stock Market The Region's stock market is active. By the mid-90s its structure had taken shape. There is a framework of more than 800 professional traders. There are several operators in the stock market: four stock exchanges (Samara Regional Stock Exchange, Russian Securities Exchange, Samara Interbank Currency Exchange and Togliatti Universal Exchange), more than 30 banks with 193 branches, 42 non-state pension funds, 132 licensed investment institutions. There are 646 qualified dealers with licenses entitling them to trade securities. The total of shares issued by privatized enterprises is worth of 1482.2 billion RUR. The market has been active in the regional and municipal securities, e.g. bonds and notes of hand. In the housing loans alone the total of its issue was 55.1 billion RUR.   Education, Science and Culture There are 13 state schools of higher learning, 9 private ones, 62 professional schools of various ownership, 1112 high schools and 16 private high schools. Several dozens of scientific institutions and labs continue to carry out different research programs in many fields of knowledge. Fundamental investigations, applied studies and design works are carried out by 72 institutions, including 5 academic, 15 research institutes and 20 design groups. The Central Specialized Design Lab dealing with space technologies is known throughout the whole world. The Region's scientific fame is upheld by the branch of the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences, the Radio Institute, the Giprovostokneft Institute, up-to-date scientific scholarships at the Samara State University, Medical University, Technical University, Pedagogical University and Agricultural Academy standing at the forefront line of science. There are over hundred state, municipal, private, folklore and amateur theaters. The Gorky Academic Drama Theater, the Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, The Koleso Theater, the Gorod Theater and many others are among the most popular ones. The Samara Philharmonic Society is reputed not only for its splendid building, but for its diverse repertoire as well. It was there that for the fist time in the world there was rendition of the famous Seventh (Leningrad) Symphony by Dmitry Shostakovich who was living in Kuibyshev (Samara) in evacuation. Social and Economic Situation in the Samara Region In terms of the social, industrial and financial development of the economy, the Samara Region belongs to a group of financially strong regions with large-scale industry that are reform oriented. In terms of economic potential and positive development perspectives, the Region ranks among leading regions in the Russian Federation and takes the first place among members of the Big Volga association. Throughout the period of reforms, considerable changes have taken place in the Region: the State ownership monopoly was abandoned; a multi-sector economy was formed; a market economy framework was created; a certain saturation of the consumer market was attained; a sharp decline in the industrial production in the beginning of the period overcome; and land reform was implemented. International ratings are a sort of approval of a region or organization. In 1997, the Samara Region got the international credit rating that matches the national one. Conferment of the Federation subjects' highest possible rating is a recognition of the stable economic, social and political situation in the Region, and an index of stability of the Samara Region. Prospects of the region are demonstrated by the following indicators. The Samara Region has the highest average of per capita industrial output among subjects of the Big Volga association: it amounts to 15.9 million roubles in pre-denomination prices thus considerably overtaking the Republic of Tatarstan and more than 1.5 times the Nizhny Novgorod Region. The Samara Region produces 4% of the industrial GNP, although the Region's share in Russia is 2.2% in population and 0.3% in territory. By the gross industrial output in 1997 the Region took the third place in the Russian Federation. By the volume of capital investment per capita the Samara Region exceeds the national index and firmly ranks second among the Big Volga association. In 1997 the profit per capita was 1.9 million roubles that 2.3 times as much than the national average and the highest index within the Big Volga association. The Region ranks third in Russia in terms of retail trade that is facilitated by increased public demand. The income average to survival living standard ration is highest among the regions of the Big Volga Association. While the wage average in some regions of the Big Volga association slightly exceeds a half of the national average, that in the Samara Region exceeds the national average by 15%. The year 1997 became the year of the beginning of economic growth, the emergence of new positive trends in the Region's economy and the strengthening of the Region's standing among regions of the Russian Federation. That was favored by stable lowering of inflation and interest rates, financial stabilization, and efforts of the Region Administration to improve of inter-budget relations between the Region and Federal authorities. A most important event in 1997 for the Samara Region that was the signing of the Agreement on the separation of province and authority between the bodies of the State authority of the Russian Federation and bodies of the State authority of the Samara Region positively affects economic situation in the Region. In 1997, the rise of the gross regional product (GRP) was observed for the first time throughout the years of reforms. The inflation dynamics and production growth trends are a positive symptom of the Region's coming out of the crisis. In 1997, a low level of inflation and production growth were observed for the first time in the recent years. The monthly price rise average was 101% as against 101.7% in 1996. Consumer prices kept rising faster than industrial commodities, which demonstrated greater consumer demand as against industrial demand and prevent inflation surges. The Samara Region Administration has pursued the policy of reforms in the fields of natural monopolies in order to lower production costs. The main emphasis was made on the step-by-step reduction in the practice of cross subsidizing of various groups of consumers. Communication services tariffs were revised in connection with their reduction by 30% for industrial consumers, and those for electricity and gas. However, despite many positive attributes, economic growth in the Region remains unstable, because it is not backed by sufficient funds and investment. Debt delinquency still persists. Credit indebtedness of industrial, building, agriculture and transport enterprises as per January 1, 1998, totaled 56.2 billion roubles in pre-denominated prices. The unemployment rate continues to rise and amounted to 3.7% of economically active population as per 01/01/98 as against 3.4% in 1996. It is determined primarily by low mobility and competitiveness of the unemployed in the labor market under the structural crisis. As a whole the Region experiences problems typical for the entire Russian economy, including a gap between the Region's industrial potential and commodity and services production, due to under-capitalization and declining demand for the output of enterprises and other factors. For more information on Samara, both current and business related see: Padraic J. Sweeney, "Samara: A Key Russian Region" (March 1998), BISNIS, http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/bulletin/9803SAMA.HTM; Ekaterina Solovova and Dimitry A. Melnikov, "Opening An Office in Samara" (November 1999), BISNIS, http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/991129office.htm; Ekaterina Solovova, "Telecom Industry in Samara" (December 1999), BISNIS, http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/000124telecomsamara.htmr The Russian-American Chamber of Commerce® is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization acting to promote American business interests in the Russian marketplace. Last Updated: February 28, 2000. Copyright the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce® 1995-1999. All rights reserved.