Püssi is a town in Lüganuse Parish,

Ida-Viru County Ida-Viru County ( et, Ida-Viru maakond or ''Ida-Virumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is the most north-eastern part of the country. The county contains large deposits of oil shale - the main mineral mined in Estonia. Oil shale is used ...

, in northeastern

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

, with a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 917 . It is located near the road between

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

History

Following the end of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

's 45-year rule over Estonia, Püssi saw a sharp economic downturn and a population exodus. In 1989 the population of Püssi stood at 2,400 people, and 20 years later, in 2009, was only 1,809. The population has continued to decrease and by 2012 stood at 1,783 people. In October 2013, Püssi along with

Maidla Parish Maidla Parish ( et, Maidla vald) was an Estonian municipality located in Ida-Viru County. In October 2013, Maidla Parish along with the town of Püssi were merged into Lüganuse Parish, and therefore ceased to exist as sovereign municipalities. ...

were merged into Lüganuse Parish, and therefore ceased to exist as sovereign municipalities.

Economy

By 2002 Püssi had accumulated 20 million kroons of debt, the equivalent to 1.3 million

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s; and property values had become so low that apartments were valued around zero. Since then, the city's economy has begun to recover. Püssi has planned the construction of an

industrial park An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park ...

. The Chairman of the town council, in an interview with ''

The Baltic Times ''The Baltic Times'' is an independent monthly newspaper that covers the latest political, economic, business, and cultural events in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The paper was formed from a merger in 1996 of the ''Baltic Independent'' and '' ...

'', marketed Püssi by stating that property values in the city were only 1% of those of the capital city of

. Püssi has historically served as a production center for

particle board Particle board, also known as chipboard or low-density fiberboard, is an engineered wood product manufactured from wood chips and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded. Particle board is often confused with ...

. At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the town's largest employer was particle board manufacturer Repo Vabrikud, which employed 1,400 people, over half the city. Although Repo Vabrikud has scaled back employment significantly, other particle board manufacturers have moved in. Sorbes Group has the production center for its "Repo by Sorbes" line of particle board in Püssi. In 2011, the Estonian furniture manufacturer Viisnurk took over an inactive softboard factory in the city with the intention to manufacture softboard for international clients in Asia and Europe. In December 2010,

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

announced that Püssi had been selected as the location of one of two converter stations for their " EstLink 2" high voltage power line between

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

Culture

Püssi is the home of the Püssi Punk Festival, which has run annually since 2005, and features rock,

metal A metal (from ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, e ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

, and

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

musicians from several countries. The town contains an artificial mountain made of ash from an

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitut ...

power plant that has been depositing ash in the location since the 1930s. The mountain is used for

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

racing.

Notable people

Herbert Brede Herbert Lorentz Brede (25 April 1888 in Püssi – 6 October 1942 in Norilsk) was an Estonian soldier and general. Brede fought in World War I as an officer of the Imperial Russian Army against the Central Powers. After World War I he fought ...

(1888–1942), army general. Born in Püssi. *

Piret Hartman Piret Hartman (born 10 August 1981) is an Estonian politician. She serves as Minister of Culture in the second cabinet of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas Kaja Kallas (; born 18 June 1977) is an Estonian politician who has been serving as the pr ...

(born 1981), politician. Born in Püssi. *

Carl Timoleon von Neff Carl Timoleon von Neff, also Timofey Andreyevich Neff (russian: Тимофей Андреевич Нефф, – ) was a Russian Imperial artist of Baltic German descent. Biography Carl Timoleon von Neff was born at a manor house in Neu-Isenho ...

(1804–1877), painter. Born in Püssi.

Gallery

Püssi jaamahoone enne II maailmasõda.jpg, The old Püssi railway station (destroyed in World War II) Püssi train station 2011.jpg, Püssi train station Elroni reisirong Püssil.jpg, Elron passenger train in Püssi Old factory chimney in Püssi - panoramio.jpg, Old factory's chimney (July 2011) Püssi AS Repo Vabrikud tehas.jpg, Püssi AS Repo factory next to the Purtse river Map Estonia - Püssi linn.png,

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pussi Cities and towns in Estonia Lüganuse Parish Former municipalities of Estonia Kreis Wierland