Leningrad Region
The Leningrad Region is a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, part of the North-Western Federal District and the North-Western Economic Region.
Location
The Leningrad Region is located in the North-West of European Russia and is washed by the Finnish Gulf, the Baltic Sea, and lakes Ladoga and Onega. The region has a common border with Finland and Estonia. It borders on five Russian regions: Novgorod, Pskov and Vologda regions, the Republic of Karelia and the city of St Petersburg. The Leningrad Region comprises 29 municipal entities subdivided into territories, 17 districts, and 9 cities and townships.
Area
85,900 square kilometres
Capital
St Petersburg, located 651 kilometres from Moscow
Main cities
Gatchina, Sosnovy Bor, Tikhvin, Kirishi
Climate
The climate is transitional from marine to continental. Average January temperature is -10 C. The average July temperature is +17 C.
Population
The population of the region is 1,652,900, of whom 741,500 are men and 911,400 are women. The urban population accounts for 66.5% (1,097,400). The rural population accounts for 33.5% (555,500). The economically active population is 892,000, of whom 831,000 are employed. Unemployment stands at 7.1%, according to ILO statistics. The proportion of people above the working age is 22.5%, people below working age, 15%. The natural growth coefficient is negative, -12.1 per 1,000 people. Migration growth is positive, at 78.3 per 10,000 of the population.
Main natural resources
The main natural resources in the Leningrad Region are bauxites, phosphorites, combustible shales, moulding and glass sands, carbonic minerals for metallurgy and cement production, fireproof and cement alumina. A total of 26 minerals have been explored, of which 20 are non-ore minerals used to produce building materials and organic fertiliser. Proven resources include 173 hard mineral fields, of which 46% are being mined.
Economic development
The core of industrial production is more than 360 medium and large companies. The leading industries in the Leningrad Region are: food, forestry and woodworking and pulp and paper, the fuel industry, power generation, machine-building and metalworking, non-ferrous metallurgy, the chemical and petrochemical industries, construction materials industry.
Energy industry
The sector is represented by Lenenergo, Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (4000 MW), and Kirishskaya Hydroelectric Power Plant (2080 MW).
Chemical and petrochemical industry
Its share of industrial output is 5-7%. The chemical and petrochemical industry in the Leningrad Region comprises 150 large and medium companies, including Fosforit (production of mineral fertiliser, animal feed additives and other chemicals), Henkel-Era (synthetic detergents), Volkhovsky Khimichesky Zavod (household chemicals production), Khimik (solvents) and other companies.
Engineering
Accounts for 7% of industrial output. The largest enterprises are Vyborgsky Sudostroitelny Zavod (shipbuilding), Burevestnik (production of fittings for ships and the fuel and energy sector), Pirs (equipment for the coal, mining and chemical industries), Priborostroitel (instrument production), Helkama Forste Viipuri (refrigerators), Luzhsky Abrazivny Zavod (production of abrasive tools), Caterpillar Tosno (production of road building machines), Zavod Krizo (production of ship engine equipment), ToMeZ (utilities and road technology), Ford Motor Company (cars), TZTM Titran (manufacture of tractors and metal structures).
Non-ferrous metallurgy
Its share of industrial output is 7%. The key companies in the sector are: Boksitogorsky Glinozem (the production of aluminium, hydrate, water purification coagulants, polishing and waterproof materials), Metallurg comprising its branches, Pikalevsky Glinozem and Volkhovsky Aluminy (production of aluminium and chemicals).
Forestry and woodworking industry
The forestry complex consists of technologically interconnected subsectors, logging, wood-working and pulp-and-paper. The industry accounts for 23% of the regional industrial output. More than 770 companies operate in the region, including 70-80 large and medium logging companies, more than 20 sawmills, about 20 furniture factories, 3 pulp-and-paper plants and 5 cardboard and paper producing factories. The companies between them have the capacity of more than 7 million cubic metres a year.
Fuel industry
The share of the industry in total industrial output is 17.1%. The largest companies are: Kirishinefteorgsintez, Leningradslanets, and Zavod Slantsy. More than 20 companies in the region extract and process peat. The region gets its gas supplies from the unified gas supply system of Russia.
Food industry
The share of the food industry in the total output is 25.3%.The leading companies include: Phillip Morris Izhora (tobacco products) and Veda (alcoholic beverages), Gatchinsky Kombikormovy Zavod (combined fodders), Kingisepp bakery, Maleta and National Wine Terminal (production of wine and other alcoholic beverages), and Sosnovsky Molochny Zavod (dairy products).
Agriculture
The agricultural sector specialises in meat and dairy livestock breeding, poultry-breeding and vegetable growing. Thirteen farms are included among the 300 biggest and most effective agro-industrial enterprises in Russia.
Transport
Railway transport
Passenger carriage on the territory of the Leningrad Region is provided by two subdivisions of Oktyabrskaya Railway: TR LNSKOM (commuter train service) and TR LNSSERVIS (long-distance train service). The total length of railways is more than 3,000 km.
River transport
The Volga-Baltic Waterway crosses the Leningrad Region and links the basins of all of Russia's inland waterways. Marine transport comprises two major seaports, Vyborg and Vysotsky, as well as a highly developed ship repair and building industry.
Automobile transport
The total length of automobile roads in the Leningrad Region is 10,909 km, of which 1,245 km are federal roads and 9,664 km regional roads.
Air transport
Airports: Pulkovo-1 catering to domestic airlines and Pulkovo-2 catering to international airlines.
Foreign economic activity
Main export partners are Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Norway. The main import partners are the United States, Germany, Brazil, Finland, Britain, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Small bsinesses
There are 12,200 registered small businesses in the region, of which 3,100 are in manufacturing, 2,100 in construction and 3,800 in retail and services. The remaining businesses are in agriculture, transport, science and science services.
The region's problems and prospects
The economic future of the Leningrad Region depends above all on the implementation of several investment projects (building a new port in Ust-Luga, an automobile plant in Vyborg, the Baltic Transport System comprising pipelines, ports and approach routes; the development of a network of international roads, the construction of new and modernisation of existing ports, the building of the Gryazovets-Vyborg gas pipeline).
The Governor of the Leningrad Region Valery Serdyukov
The Speaker of the regional legislature is Ivan Khabarov.
