Capacity of the municipalities

Aznakaevsky District

 The edge of oil and milk, steppes, and river with quaint names – Aznakaevsky district is located in the south-east of Tatarstan. It is closer to Ufa than to Kazan, and it is here, on the threshold of the Ural Mountains, that the highest point of the republic is located – Chatyr-Tau mountain, the symbol of the district.

 The village of Aznakaevo is known since the second half of the XVIII century, but its great history of rapid growth and development, began in the fifties of the twentieth century, with the discovery of the Romashkinsky oil field. The small village instantly became large, noisy, industrial, and turned into an urban-type settlement. The status of the city of Aznakaevo appeared in 1987, since then the population has not changed much, now it is about 35 thousand people.

 As in all cities of Tatarstan’s oil regions, Aznakaevo has good roads, clean streets, neat lawns, and well-groomed monuments. A light and music fountain on the central square, a new beautiful embankment of the Black River, renovated parks – a pleasant walk in the city. The main leisure activity for residents is sports, everything is equipped for this purpose – sports arenas, ice palaces, water and health centers, children's sports schools. Favorite sports are team sports: hockey, football, volleyball, basketball, but many are engaged in national wrestling, swimming, and martial arts. People live well in Aznakaevo and the average salary is higher than in other regions of the republic, and everything you need for a comfortable life is there. One concern of the district authorities is too strong economic dependence on the oil industry. But residents are slowly dealing with it.

 How to “rebuild” from oil

The main enterprise of the district is TATNEFT and Aznakaevskneft oil and gas production department, which has been operating since 1956 that is from the moment when the Big Tatarstan Oil started to “feed” the whole country in the second half of the twentieth century. The famous overall TATNEFT achievement is the production of 3 billion tons of oil, the share of Aznakayevsky oil workers is 15%. 


Oil has completely turned the life of the district upside down. The quiet rural, leisurely life includes drilling rigs and oil rockers. Tons of heavy machinery began to travel through the formerly arable lands, thousands of new specialists came towork and live in Aznakaevo. Today ten enterprises are working in the oil sector of the district, which is engaged in mining, exploration, installation, repair, transportation, and other auxiliary activities. There are several machine- building and metal-working enterprises, which also serve the “oil industry” for the most part – Spetsmash plant makes oilfield equipment and spare parts for it, Perekryvatel LLC builds and repairs wells.


The Aznakaevsky plant Neftemash, which, with the support of the government, was able to switch from a narrow oil topic to a wide consumer market, stands out in this row. In the eighties, the plant started with the repair of components for UAZ cars, and in the nineties, it reoriented to the production of specialized equipment on chassis (of cars). Today the plant produces 17 types of various special-purpose vehicles, mainly those with crane manipulator units capable of lifting 80 tons of cargo. And this equipment is used not only in the oil industry but also in municipal and road facilities, in construction, in the army. People's famous trucks “I load it myself, I drive it myself”, wreckers, mobile workshops - all this Neftemash perfectly does and sells throughout the country. And also cars-houses, places of refuge and rest for thousands of oil workers, geologists, builders and otherprofessionals who work far from home, in the field. And it was this specialization of Neftemash that gave an
impetus to the development of a new direction in its production.


It all started with Tatarstan's government program to develop medical care in rural areas. In every village of the republic, even the most remote one, there should be a medical aid station where residents will be able to provide first aid, decided by the government of the RT10. These should be typical buildings, lightweight modular structures that can be easily transported and installed anywhere. Before that Neftemash had been producing mobile homes for oil workers for five years, so the plant's specialists developed two buildings of medical and obstetric stations – MOS. These are bright, comfortable “houses”, where everything is beautifully and compactly placed inside: the necessary medical equipment, furniture, bathroom. For six years since the beginning of the program, they have been released over 400 pieces, neat buildings medical and obstetrical station cheerful orange color stands in every district of the republic. Now Aznakaevsky's modular buildings are actively interested in other Russian regions, as well as in the CIS countries, so the plant is increasing its capacity is moving to work in two shifts to produce twice as many medical and obstetrical stations. 

Approximately the same way – expansion of assortment, entering new, not connected with oil branch markets, there is another local enterprise – garment factory “Aznakay kiemnere”. Like others, the factory began with the production of special clothing for oil workers, and today sews medical and cooking sets, hunter suits, uniforms for special services… And everything is in demand, everything is sold throughout the country. So, there is no doubt: Aznakayev industry enterprises are not afraid of life after oil, they can work and adapt flexibly to adjust to the needs of the market, which means that they will thrive regardless of the cost of a barrel of oil.

 Dairy rivers between oil banks

 Despite 70 years of turbulent oil history, the Aznakayevsky district considers itself first of all an agricultural region. Indeed, the agro-industrial complex here is one of the strongest in Tatarstan. It is based on two large holdings operating in several regions of the republic – Soyuz Agro, Agrosila Group, and seven local independent farms. Their main direction is dairy cattle breeding. In this area, the district shows good results - it demonstrates high milk yields (over 130 tons of milk per day), increases the livestock, and actively upgrades its equipment. Not only large farms but also small, family farms are growing well and developing rapidly. There are more than 13 thousand personal subsidiary farms and 90 peasant farms in the district. Together, these “kids” produce over 20% of all agricultural products produced in the region.

 The success of the Aznakayevsky breeders natural. The district purposefully invested for several years in the agricultural sector, and not only by large investors who built high-tech mega-farms but also by active support from the administration. Even small private farms, such as families with at least three cows, were helped by distributing individual milking machines. For the villagers, this is a serious help, each apparatus costs about 25 thousand rubles, and a total of 500 cows were distributed in the Aznakayevsky district.

 Of course, Aznakayevsky agriculture still has plenty of opportunities for further growth. It is necessary to increase productivity, increase yields, implement advanced technologies everywhere, open new high-tech processing plants - in short, raise the level of agriculture to the best world samples and eventually enter the international market. All this is possible, and all this is waiting for investment injections. Taliya Minullina Head of the Investment Development Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan believes that such investment projects are very promising, though not easy to implement: “Creation of new production facilities in the agricultural sector of the Aznakaevsky district will require potential investors to develop a well-thought-out production program justified by serious marketing research and taking into account all the prospects for market sales.” Residents do not doubt that investment in agriculture is the right path. After all, the demand for oil in the world is slowly declining, but the demand for quality food is only growing.

 How to soar in Aznakaevo

When hundreds of colorful “commas” fly in the air currents over the mountain Chatyr-Tau, there is no one left indifferent, such a spectacle fascinating. Residents gladly come to see the competition of paragliders, the mountain is not far - 7 kilometers from the city. The “Azfly” club has existed since 2010, it successfully teaches everyone who wants to fly a paraglider, Chatyr-Tau is ideal for that. It is an unusual mountain in general. 

 Only 321 meters above sea level, and how many stories, legends, and beliefs are associated with it! Residents are proud of Chatyr-Tau (translated from Shatur mountain), consider it a “business card” of the district, even named the sports complex after it. Here grow fifty species of plants listed in the Red book of Tatarstan, live rare species of insects, reptiles, and mammals. The most famous inhabitants are Bobak marmot. These fluffy animals here are over seven thousand - the largest colony in Tatarstan. To preserve all this rich flora and fauna, Chatyr-Tau and its surrounding area were granted the status of a state nature reserve of regional importance.

Like any natural beauty, Chatyr-Tau has been overgrown with mysterious stories over the centuries. It is said that inside the mountain there is the King-Magnet, that the water flowing from the spring is healing, that the army of Yemelyan Pugachev camped here, and an abandoned adit (once there was copper mining) is a hidden arsenal of ancient weapons. The truthfulness of these legends should not be checked, it is better to just climb to the top and enjoy the views – it is still the highest point in Tatarstan. 

 But the crowd of tourists who came to admire the views of Chatyr-Tau, you will not see here. From Kazan too far, and in Bashkortostan there are higher mountains. But the Tatarstan Shatur mountain has a powerful tourist potential, which residents already found, but have not yet seriously developed. For example, for eight years in a row the folk festival of the Turkic peoples “Chatyrtaudazhien” has been held here. In summer, a week or two after Sabantui, a colorful holiday is planned on the mountain. Dozens of folk ensembles perform, tables with national dishes are laid out, and the folk crafts fair unfolds. In the first years, the holiday was only Tatarstan, but now it brings together artists from Turkey, Armenia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. The administration of the district dreams of making the festival more large-scale, but so far, even though it has become almost international, there are not asmany guests as we would like. “Chatyrtaudazhien” could become an interesting link in the map of Tatarstan’s ethnotourism, if only to invest a little more effort and money in the festival.

 There are also not a lot of people going to the regularly held on Chatyr-Tau competitions on paragliding - both republican and Volga Federal District scale. But if the spectators had the opportunity to join this action, that is, to soar over Chatyr-Tau, the mountain would become a center of attraction for many and many tourists. Of course, an unprepared man would not fly on a paraglider. But you could climb on a rangefinder or balloon if someone provided such a service.

 The balloon flight is the most popular entertainment all over the world, it is enjoyed by both locals and tourists. As, for example, in Turkish Cappadocia, where almost every day, if the weather allows, at down 250 colorful balloons rise into the sky. Thousands of tourists specially come to Cappadocia to take part in this show. The bravest fly in the basket of balloons, the most cautious watching a mesmerizing performance from the ground. This “entertainment” brings a lot of money to the city's treasury.

 It is not difficult to make something like this in Aznakaevo, the views that open from Chatyr-Tau are not worse than the Turkish ones. You can open the Balloon Center, where everyone can ride on the hovercraft and arrange sightseeing tours of the natural reserve on the balloon. And for those who do not dare to climb the sky, open a rental center at the foot of the mountain-bicycles, ATVs, skis, and so on. Even small businesses can create such a center. It would glorify the Aznakaevsky district of Tatarstan for the whole country.

 3 facts about Aznakaevsky District

1.   Near Aznakaevo is the so-called Khrushchev Forest. The head of the USSR Nikita Khrushchev came to Aznakaevo in August 1964 He was met with great pomp, prepared a large program, which included an outdoor dinner in the forest. Two months after that visit, Khrushchev was “removed”, but the forest remained “Khrushchev's” in the minds of Aznakaevo residents.

2.   Aznakaevo residents’ taps are filled with almost mineral water. The city's water intakes are located far from industrial facilities and in environmentally clean places. Water is taken from artesian wells 60-80 meters deep and supplied to the city through polymer pipes. Crystal clear natural water contains all minerals and microelements necessary for the human body, meets all sanitary requirements, and does not require additional treatment or purification. 

3.    Aznakaevo has its wonderful pyramid, built by the rules of the “golden section”, as well as the Egyptian pyramids. Residents of the district believe that it has unique healing properties and that everyone who spends some time inside it is charged with a special energy. You can check the magical properties of the pyramid in the health and recreation resort “Aznakaevsky”.

Фото: aznakayevo.tatarstan.ru, protatarstan.ru, vc.com, park.tatar, tatarstan.ru, agrovesti.net, storge.ru