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Kremenchuk

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Kremenchuk
Map
Population
 (January 1, 2005)
231,202
Websitehttp://www.kremenchuk.pl.ua/

Kremenchuk (Template:Lang-uk, Template:Lang-ru, translit. Kremenchug) is an important industrial city in the Poltava Oblast (province) of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kremenchutsky Raion (district), the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the banks of Dnieper River.

The current estimated population is around 226,100 (as of 2004).

History

Kremenchuk was supposedly founded in 1571. From its situation at the southern terminus of the navigable course of the Dnieper river, and equally advantageous positioning on the crossway from Muscovy to Black Sea, it acquired a great commercial importance early on, and by 1655, it was a wealthy Cossack town.

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, and most of Kremenchuk's once substantial Jewish population was wiped out. September 29, the day when the city was liberated from the Nazi occupation 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.

Economy

Kremenchuk is a large industrial city of Poltava region 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 of Poltava region. Situated in the city are businesses such as Autokraz, Ukrtatnafta, the road-making machineworks, an automobile manufacturing plant, the wagon plant, the wheel plant, the carbon black plant, the steel worksand others. Kremenchuk is home to the KrAZ truck-manufacturing company (one of the largest in Eastern Europe) as well as a major European oil refinery operated by Ukrtatnafta. The light industries of the city include tobacco (JTI), confectionery (Roshen), knitting and candlemakingfactories, the brewery, as well as the milk and meat processing plants.
Kremenchuk is one of the most important railway junctions of Central Ukraine and a major port on the Dnieper river.

Sister Cities

Kremenchuk is currently twinned with:

See also