No. 2, 2010
Alexandra Makarova
VLADIVOSTOK, FAR AND NEAR
Vladivostok is the city and port in the Far East of Russia and the administrative center of the Primorsky Territory, located on the Sea of Japan coast on the peninsula of Muravyov-Amursky.
The history of the city of Vladivostok already goes back a century and a half. On June 20, 1860 soldiers of the 4th Line Battalion, led by warrant officer Nikolay Komarov, were landed in the Golden Horn Bay by the military transport Manchur. They immediately set to work building the military post of Vladivostok. The post was expanding quickly; its population grew, and it received a status of a port within two years.
On February 10, 1871, the government decided to transfer from Nikolayevsk-on-Amur to Vladivostok its naval port containing the residence of the area's military governor and the main base of the Siberian naval flotilla.
From that point on, Vladivostok would grow even more rapidly. The construction of administrative and residential buildings expanded considerably; trade grew in volume; and work commenced on new sawmills, five brick factories, a grain mill, and a brewery.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the tiny naval outpost had been transformed into Russia's largest port and naval base in the Far East. Vladivostok's international importance grew considerably during the same period, with dozens of consulates and a large number of foreign trading representations operating in the city.
After becoming in 1958 a base of the Soviet Navy, Vladivostok was closed to foreigners for 30 years.
In the post-Soviet period Vladivostok retained its status as the major transport, industrial, and commercial and financial center, which creates prerequisites for further growth and development of the city. Great importance has the APEC summit which is planned to be held in Vladivostok in 2012.
Industrial engineering mainly includes shipbuilding and repair, as well as production equipment for the fishing industry. Vladivostok is the base of fishing and reefer fleet.
Great significance for the Russian oil industry is the pipeline system "Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean", which would connect the oil fields of Western and Eastern Siberia to the ports of the Primorsky Territory in Russia and provide access to U.S. and Asia- Pacific markets and. The planned total length of pipeline is 4188 km. The operator of the pipeline is the state company Transneft.
Vladivostok is currently experiencing a unique renaissance. In the first half of the 21st century, we can already see clearly the outlines of a bright future for the Russian Far East.
