“There’s no money to leave.” How a “radioactive” city in the Far East was flooded

Balei

(Transbaikal region)

OKATO code:
76206501
Founded:
1938
City since:
1938 City of district subordination (Baleysky district of the Trans-Baikal Territory)
Center:
Baleysky district
The city was formerly called:

Deviation from Moscow time, hours:
6
Geographic latitude:
51°35′
Geographic longitude:
116°38′
Altitude above sea level, meters:
620 Sunrise and sunset times in the city of Baley

Population[ | ]

As of January 1, 2022, in terms of population, the city was in 895th place out of 1,116[24]cities of the Russian Federation[25].

Map

Baley: photos from space (Google Maps) Baley: photos from space (Microsoft Virtual Earth)

a brief description of

Located in Transbaikalia, at the foot of the Borschovochny ridge, on the river. Unda (Amur basin), 55 km from the railway. Priiskovaya station, 350 km east of Chita.

Territory (sq. km): 48

Information about the city of Baley on the Russian Wikipedia site

Historical sketch

It emerged as the village of Novotroitskoye, where the Baleyzoloto fishery was organized in 1929. This led to the growth and gold mining specialization of the village, which soon received the name Novotroitsky Craft. In 1938, the village of Novotroitsky Promysel was transformed into the city of Baley.

The name is associated with the local tract Baleyskaya Gorka (now Zolotaya Gorka), where the basis is supposed to be the Daurian balei “holy place”.

In 1947, the Taseevskoye gold ore deposit was discovered near Baley.

Economy

Baley is a major center of the gold mining industry (Baley deposit): mines, a quarry, and processing plants (the first factory came into operation in 1935).

Architecture, sights

The city is picturesquely located along the banks of the Unda, across which there is a bridge. Residential buildings are grouped mainly along the terraces of the right bank, gradually turning into the foot of the Borschovochny ridge. In the left bank part there are mines, processing plants, and the Otmahovo microdistrict.

Balei - a poor city on gold

Now the city of Baley exists with an insignificant budget and is in indescribable devastation and everyday poverty. The city is surrounded on all sides by developed quarries, mines and the remains of buildings and workshops of huge gold mining factories. Like nuclear explosion craters, abandoned, unfinished quarries surround the city. City sewage and wastewater flow into the reservoirs that fill the quarries. Once upon a time, life was in full swing in the city. It even had its own airfield, and planes flew from Chita twice a day. There was a city park decorated with sculptures. Now only the pedestals remain. Large industrial and housing construction was underway, and now the mining district of Otmahovo looks like the most terrible and ugliest creation of mankind without wars, bombings or natural disasters. In the city, enterprises, mines and factories have been destroyed, the airport, clubs, dry cleaners, bakeries, heating systems, water supply have been destroyed, there is not a single cardiologist or specialist for the remaining 12 thousand population (the distance to Chita is approximately 350 km).

Polyus first district administration

Since September 2016, the head of the municipal district of Baleysky district is Sergei Yuryevich GALCHENKO

Sergey Yuryevich, you recently assumed the position of head of the district, what did you see, what caught your eye and what problems need to be solved first.

The problems and troubles of the Baleysky district began to manifest themselves during the election campaign last year. The population is very tired. Because they are not heard, no one works with them, tariffs for housing and communal services in the city are among the highest in the region, with the low quality of services provided by MUP Obelisk and LLC UK Uyut. But most importantly, there is practically no dialogue between the population and the authorities, the administrations of the urban settlement of the City of Baley and rural settlements. Over ten years, more than five thousand people left the area.

The vertical of power is another problem. I would like to combine the administration of the urban settlement with the administration of the district. Otherwise, we have endless meetings that lead nowhere. It is necessary to work according to the principle: Made a decision, ordered done. When the power is in one hand, the speed of execution of decisions is higher, but the main thing is to have someone to ask from the head of the district.

What ways do you see to improve the area's economy? It’s not for nothing that they say that Baley is a city standing on gold...

146 tons of gold are proven reserves. But despite this, the economy is going down, because no one in power wants to change anything. I am trying to attract more young, proactive people into the district administration who are striving to change something, because there were times when our economy was steadily growing. At the meetings that we held with the Public Chamber and members of the government of the Trans-Baikal Territory, we sought to prove that we are a self-sufficient region, let us boost the economy, and even people who once left Baley will return. But at the moment the city is dying.

What about gold? Who is mining it?

Illegal gold miners, and even in our city at the city quarry. They are digging openly, and everyone knows about them, but no one, including the city administration, is doing anything. They act brazenly, they have very serious potential in technology, serious financial resources, and the gold they extract illegally goes to China.

What about the police and other law enforcement agencies?

The police are throwing up their hands, they don’t have enough funds or any other mechanisms. Now I want to carry out a number of activities, including against illegal miners. The main quarry is located on the territory of the city; due to illegal gold miners, its walls are collapsing. The authorities will, of course, bear responsibility. This lawlessness must be put to an end, which is why I am talking about building a vertical power structure. Some kind of lawlessness reigns; they are digging inside the city, and the main Taseevskoye deposit is idle. It is necessary to attract investors, but seeing this situation, they do not dare to invest. Today, the district budget (we do not take into account the city budget, they have their own tasks and expenses) is about 480 million rubles, but we could increase it to a billion through tax and other revenues if all the deposits were fully operational .

How is work with youth organized?

Now we are trying to build it at least at some level. I leave work at eight or nine o’clock, the lights are on only in the gym, but our youth sports school cannot accommodate everyone. City youth work agencies close at six o'clock in the evening. The club is also closed at six o'clock, because it is convenient for the city authorities.

Is there a conflict between the city and district administrations?

I would say it is present, but I am always for constructive dialogue: we need to hear each other. However, they say to my face: You, Sergei Yuryevich, came like an alien, changing something... And so everything is fine. But I want people in Balei to live comfortably, to have the opportunity to earn money, to have the sidewalks chalked, so that the roads are good, women to wear high-heeled shoes, so that everything here is good and beautiful. At one time, I headed the Union of Employers of the Trans-Baikal Territory and I understand perfectly well: until the vertical of power is built, until order is restored in power, investors will not come even for gold. Take the same Taseevskoye field, we need to work with people on resettlement, provide jobs, but as long as we have such a mess in the city, no one will come. But the budget of both the district and the entire region and the Russian Federation as a whole operates from the tax base. Now the area is subsidized.

Well, I put the fight against corruption and crime first.

How is agriculture in the region?

There are ten rural settlements in the Baleysky district, and many more villages. There are very few subsidized agricultural enterprises. When I arrived, two agricultural cooperatives were created to fall under the program for updating the material and technical base. We are trying to create grant programs. But in general... a weak economy due to the fact that there is no basic enterprise, as the Baleysky GOK used to be.

Opposite pole city administration

After a conversation with the young head of the district, a conversation in the two-story city administration building.

But here the conversation doesn’t work from the start: Mayor Leonid Zaverukha is like a character straight out of the screens of Soviet films about party workers. Alexander Motorin, head of the urban settlement council of the city of Baley, in a good, expensive suit, looks more like a wealthy businessman. Here the correspondent of the regional publication is greeted sharply negatively, they accuse me that I came on the order of the Transbaikal Memorial Company, which, one of the few regional companies, has its own branch in Balei. It turns out that the administration recently had a quarrel with its director.

The conversation did not work out, but although the leaders of the city administration refused to talk, the townspeople spoke with pain about their problems. Group 1 disabled Ekaterina Pavlovna Gulyaeva, 82 years old, lives in an apartment with two men with criminal records. The atmosphere in the apartment: constant threats, rudeness, drunkenness. Going to the administration did not yield anything, since the administration itself placed them together. Literally on the threshold of the district administration building, Natalya Alekseevna Dimova catches me . Her living quarters are located at: st. Sovetskaya, 46, has been in disrepair for many years, does not comply with SanPiN 2.12.2645-10 and is unsuitable for habitation. This is according to the results of the examination report of the assistant physician for general hygiene K.V. Podoynitsina. But the commission’s conclusion from the city administration states that the physical deterioration of the premises at the time of the inspection is 60%. It is necessary to carry out a major overhaul of the power supply system. Current repairs required. Replacement of window and door fillings. Current repair of cold water supply is required. Conclusion of the interdepartmental commission: The residential premises are suitable for permanent residence of citizens and require major repairs. Conclusion of the administration of the urban settlement City of Baley: Money to repair the apartment of a pensioner, disabled person of the second group, labor veteran N.A. Dimova is not in the city budget. Natalya Alekseevna’s appeal, written to President V.V. Putin, went down the chain of command to the Ministry of Territorial Development of the Trans-Baikal region, where she was politely explained that although her house has been considered unsafe since 2012, with all questions about relocation or repairs, she should contact the city administration settlements. Hallelujah, the circle is complete.

Tatyana Nikolaevna Kolobova sold her house in 2012 (it had already been dismantled), but in 2016 Energosbyt sent her a receipt for payment for electricity. All attempts by Tatyana Kolobova to prove her truth were dashed by a piece of paper demanding that she pay 4,300 rubles for electricity plus a 200 ruble penalty.

The finale of the legal, financial and property disorder in Balei can be the story of the struggle between apartment buildings No. 2 and No. 4 with Management Company Uyut LLC. There are two companies in Balei that enjoy special favor from the administration of the urban settlement: Obelisk Municipal Unitary Enterprise and UK Uyut LLC. Don't believe me? See how Uyut renovated the houses of the city mayor and the head of the City Council. But ordinary people have a hard time. They are even afraid to say the word corruption. The residents of these houses, without asking their permission, without concluding any contracts, were included in the management company Uyut. When the residents of these houses told and showed me the conditions in which they lived, a whole spontaneous rally immediately gathered around. There is no smell of comfort here, the entrances are dirty and the doors have been torn off, the water supply system has been frozen, and water is not delivered to the residents. They don’t let anyone out of the management company, they don’t allow people to organize their own HOA. But the most important thing that outrages them is receipts for payment for non-existent services, prices that exceed all reasonable limits. And rudeness. Rudeness in Obelisk, rudeness in Comfort. I spoke on the phone with the director of Uyut LLC (he refused to come) Oleg Ushakov. I got the impression that this man either suffers from delusions of grandeur or fancies himself a tough bandit from the mid-90s.

Also, due to the fault of the administration, the registration certificate for these houses was lost, which is why residents cannot register their own HOA.

There is no justice in our Balei, we don’t trust the administration, the police, or the prosecutor’s office. Maybe at least the journalists will help... that was the verdict of the meeting of apartment buildings.

Present tense[ | ]

In September 2004, Highland Gold acquired the Taseevskoye deposit for $26 million. The deposit is being developed jointly with Barrick Gold Corporation (Canada). In order to effectively manage the development, it was created, whose office is located directly in Balei, and which holds a license to develop the Taseevskoye deposit. Currently, Taseevskoye LLC is working to reassess the potential of the Taseevskoye gold deposit with a view to possibly resuming its development (as of 2006, the number of employees of Taseevskoye LLC is 130 people). In parallel with additional exploration of the field, in 2006, Taseevskoye LLC developed and launched a comprehensive socio-economic development program for Baley and the Baley district.

Notes[ | ]

1. ↑ 12
   The permanent population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Retrieved April 27, 2022. Archived May 2, 2022.
2. Gorodetskaya I. L., Levashov E. A.
   Baley // Russian names of residents: Dictionary-reference book. - M.: AST, 2003. - P. 40. - 363 p. — 5000 copies. — ISBN 5-17-016914-0.
3. Pospelov, 2008, p. 94.
4. Archived copy (unspecified)
   (inaccessible link). Retrieved November 22, 2011. Archived October 25, 2012. Touches to the portrait of the Undine Valley
5. Main results of the population censuses of 1939, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989, 2002 (unspecified)
   . Retrieved September 23, 2013. Archived September 23, 2013.
6. All-Union Population Census of 1959. The size of the urban population of the RSFSR, its territorial units, urban settlements and urban areas by gender (Russian). Demoscope Weekly. Access date: September 25, 2013. Archived April 28, 2013.
7. ↑ 123456789101112
   People's encyclopedia "My City". Balei
8. All-Union Population Census of 1970 The size of the urban population of the RSFSR, its territorial units, urban settlements and urban areas by gender. (Russian). Demoscope Weekly. Access date: September 25, 2013. Archived April 28, 2013.
9. All-Union Population Census of 1979 The size of the urban population of the RSFSR, its territorial units, urban settlements and urban areas by gender. (Russian). Demoscope Weekly. Access date: September 25, 2013. Archived April 28, 2013.
10. ↑ 12
    Encyclopedia of Transbaikalia. Electronic resource
11. All-Union population census of 1989. Urban population (undefined)
    . Archived from the original on August 22, 2011.
12. All-Russian population census 2002. Volume. 1, table 4. Population of Russia, federal districts, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, districts, urban settlements, rural settlements - regional centers and rural settlements with a population of 3 thousand or more (unspecified)
    . Archived from the original on February 3, 2012.
13. The size of the permanent population of the Russian Federation by cities, urban-type settlements and regions as of January 1, 2009 (unspecified)
    . Retrieved January 2, 2014. Archived January 2, 2014.
14. All-Russian population census 2010. Population of the Trans-Baikal Territory by urban districts, municipal districts, urban and rural settlements, urban settlements, rural settlements (undefined)
    . Access date: September 11, 2014. Archived September 11, 2014.
15. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities. Table 35. Estimated resident population as of January 1, 2012 (unspecified)
    . Retrieved May 31, 2014. Archived May 31, 2014.
16. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2013. - M.: Federal State Statistics Service Rosstat, 2013. - 528 p. (Table 33. Population of urban districts, municipal districts, urban and rural settlements, urban settlements, rural settlements) (undefined)
    . Retrieved November 16, 2013. Archived November 16, 2013.
17. Table 33. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2014 (unspecified)
    . Access date: August 2, 2014. Archived August 2, 2014.
18. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2015 (unspecified)
    . Access date: August 6, 2015. Archived August 6, 2015.
19. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2016 (Russian) (October 5, 2018). Retrieved May 15, 2022. Archived May 8, 2022.
20. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian) (July 31, 2017). Retrieved July 31, 2022. Archived July 31, 2022.
21. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Retrieved July 25, 2018. Archived July 26, 2022.
22. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Retrieved July 31, 2019. Archived May 2, 2022.
23. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Date accessed: October 17, 2022. Archived October 17, 2022.
24. taking into account the cities of Crimea
25. https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/bul_Chislen_nasel_MO-01-01-2021.rar Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (1.85 Mb, 07/30/2021)