Baykalsk ( rus, Байкальск, p=bɐjˈkalʲsk) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Slyudyansky District of

Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara River, Angara, Lena River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located from Slyudyanka, the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of the district. Population:

History

Baykalsk was founded in 1961 concomitant with the building of a

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

there, called Baykalsk Paper and Pulp Mills. In 1966 the mill became operational, and the settlement received "city" status. At its peak, the mill employed about 3,500 people. In the late 2000s, Baykalsk faced a series of well-documented economic crises stemming from its status as a monotown entirely dependent on the declining and then closed paper mill.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Baykalsk is subordinated to Slyudyansky District.''Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Formations of Irkutsk Oblast'' As a municipal division, the

of Baykalsk, together with two rural localities in Slyudyansky District, is incorporated within Slyudyansky Municipal District as Baykalskoye Urban Settlement.Law #72-oz

Economy

Baykalsk Paper and Pulp Mills was a major source of pollution of

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

. About 3,500 people were directly employed by the plant. The plant was closed in 2009 after new expensive waste water treatment equipment made the factory unprofitable after the global economic downturn. In

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

times, the factory management was primarily responsible for the town's maintenance. The town and plant administrations were independent from one another but 95% of the town's budget used to come from the plant in the form of taxes. In January 2010, following disturbances, the Russian government with the cooperation of its private owner reopened the factory and exempted it from pollution rules but lowered the workers' wages. In September 2013, the mill underwent a final bankruptcy, with the last eight hundred workers slated to lose their jobs by December 28, 2013.

Infrastructure

There are nine kindergartens, three theaters, and a new sports center in the town. The residential parts mostly consist of three- and five-story apartment blocks due to high risk of an earthquake in the town.

Sister cities

South Lake Tahoe (California, USA)

References

Notes

Sources

* * *
Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Formations of Irkutsk Oblast
'

External links

Official website of Baykalsk

Directory of organizations in Baykalsk
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Irkutsk Oblast Populated places established in 1961 Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Monotowns in Russia Populated places on Lake Baikal