Capacity of the municipalities

Baltasinsky District

 Baltasinsky district is the most "active" coat of arms of Tatarstan. On it, a golden bear with an ax in his paws - an allegory of a careful owner and skilled craftsman, builds a house. This is the main quality of people living here - diligence. And the Tatar ax - balta, gave the name to the settlement because the locals have long been famous for carpentry.

 Reference. Baltasinsky district is the northernmost district of Tatarstan. It occupies 1094 sq. km, most of which is agricultural land. 85% of the population are Tatars.

Able people

 From Kazan to the district center - urban settlement Baltasi, the car can be reached in 80 minutes. It is located far from major transport hubs: to the nearest railway station in Shemardan - 25 km, to the river port in Malmyzh - forty. Baltasi is quite small in number, only 8 thousand people, the rest 25 thousand living in the district are considered rural residents.

 It will be difficult for a visitor without knowledge of Tatar in the Baltasinsky region; everybody speaks on it here, including few Udmurts and Russians. Even the favorite newspaper of Baltasi residents "Khezmet" ("Trud") is published without a Russian version but in Udmurt dubbing.

 People here are thorough and conservative. Family, clan, traditions are not just words but the basis of life for them. They read the foundations, observe the rites, preserve and develop national crafts, and stand firmly on the ground. A typical resident of Baltasi lives by the principle: "Be of use and carry your business on in the country where you were born", and often all his life working in one place. Take, at least, the head of the district Ramil Nutfullin. He came after school in 1978 to work in his native kolkhoz, so before he was appointed district head in 2012 he worked there. He went to study at the institute, went to serve in the army, and always came back. Everything changed around him - the state system, way of life, organizational form of the collective farm, Nutfullin's positions - from agronomist to chairman, and he stayed to live and work on his land.

 Or, for example, Firdaus Farhtdinov - director of Baltasinsky Fur Factory. After studying at the Kazan Technical  School, she returned to Baltasi to work as a skinner, quickly won respect, rose to the master, and in 1989, when the country was flooded with changes and the company began to change the form of ownership, the staff chose her director. She is still in that position, driving a factory that produces 10 million pieces of fur workwear per year. Tatarstan oil workers work in these jackets, vests, mittens, and hats in winter.

 But the Baltasinsky residents never brag about their achievements. They are modest and belong to that rare breed of people who can be trusted without fear and with whom it is easy to start a joint business. They just know how to work.

Hack, whittle, and make money 

 A rare citizen of Kazan, furnishing an apartment or house, will go for furniture to Baltasinsky district. Quickly, he will visit “Ikea” or an Italian salon, depending on financial possibilities. And completely in vain, because the district is concentrated production of almost all types of furniture. Some of them produce cabinet furniture, others - soft, and one company - absolutely "live", woven.

 Iva-Furniture works in the village of Yangulovo, in its district, there are many willows from which the company makes modern, elegant, durable, and environmentally friendly furniture, from rocking chairs to sofas, tables, and cabinets. Everything is made with such taste that it will be appropriate to look not only at cottages and country houses but also in apartments. Looking at the luxurious range of products, posted by the company in its social network account (they do not even have the site!), you wonder why this furniture is not found in the stores of major cities? Would somebody give up natural material and handmade furniture for an adequate price? Would parents of babies buy fashionable imported round cradle, if they saw what a wonderful cradle for babies weaves in Iva- Furniture?

But the Baltasinskaya Timber Company is known outside the country. It has been producing furniture, windows, and stairs made of solid wood for 15 years. The company works under the order, for cafes and restaurants make the author's tables and chairs, for "private individuals" - anything from children's beds and cupboards to complex staircase structures. The whole production - from the raw material preparation (oak, ash, pine, birch, beech, larch are used) to the installation - is fully under the responsibility of the company, so the output quality is excellent. 

It is not easy to sell furniture made of natural wood in large volumes, it is much more expensive than mass furniture made of chipboard. But “Baltasinskaya timber company” found an additional niche, which allowed it to earn good money and become known far beyond Tatarstan. 

It all started with sanctions against Russia, which restricted the import of western cheese into the country. The enterprising Russians were immediately interested in the cheese business. Under the motto “We can't be worse than they” all over the country began to open enterprises, specializing in the production of elite cheese, from kraft cheese to many thousands of lots. And everyone needed special wooden shelves for salting, maturation, and storage of cheese heads! In a short time, the Baltasin company became a supplier of such shelves for the largest cheese producers not only in Russia but also in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.

 The example of the “Baltasinskaya timber company” could inspire the conquest of foreign markets and other furniture companies in the district. They all produce quite competitive products, which with the strengthening of production capacities, proper branding, and verified marketing could take a significant share in the furniture market, and not only Tatarstan. Maybe they all need to unite, or maybe even find their own Ingvar Kamprad, who will assess the potential of the Baltasian manufacturers and create with their help a new furniture empire like IKEA.

Baltasi meat "stuffing" 

 There are so many cows and bulls in the Baltasinsky district that their number exceeds the number of people living here by several thousand. If we add to the cows the number of horses, sheep, and pigs, it turns out that for 100 hectares of agricultural land in the district there are 39 conventional cattle. This figure is twice as high as the average for Tatarstan; the residents of the region are very proud of them. The republic's government also notes its achievements. "Today this is the only municipal district of Tatarstan where the number of cattle in private farms is growing. And such a stable situation has been maintained for two decades now," Marat Akhmetov, Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan, praised the Baltasins.

 Animal husbandry at inhabitants of Baltasi is in priority, in silent Tatarstan competitions between districts they constantly take the first places on milk yield and volumes of meat. There are 22 large agricultural enterprises and about one hundred farms. Where does their production go and how is it processed? Milk - for more than half a century Baltasinsky Butter and Dairy Plant. It is a giant on a regional scale, it is 90% of Baltasi's industrial production. The plant produces 26 tons of cheese (12 varieties!), 12 tons of butter, and 11 tons of dry whey every day. Baltasi cheese and butter are eaten in Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Urals, Siberia, and Kazakhstan. Does anyone know that they are Baltasin cheese? I don't think so. Unless they notice a tiny coat of arms with a bear on a label of large, wholesale size, the head of the cheese.

 And if the milk in the area is processed on an industrial scale, it is more difficult with meat. Now all the meat plenty - beef, mutton, pork, horsemeat - passes only through small farms. For example, Zakirova's peasant farm. In it, cattle are fed, slaughtered, meat is cut, cooled, and frozen, half-finished products are cooked, sausages and kazylyk are made in small batches. There are also bigger farms, like the Davletshin family, which keep 350 sheep and about a hundred horses of meat breeds, and daily sell 150 kg of meat and kazylyk in their store and Kazan's agricultural park. And also - without a brand, without its brand, not to mention the branded packaging.

At the same time, according to the head of the Investment Development Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan Talia Minullina, Baltasinsky district has a great potential for the development of the food industry: "There is a lot of vacant space with ready infrastructure for the deployment of production, from the halal industrial park Baltach and ending with the empty territories of non-functioning factories. You can deploy at least a sausage shop, at least the production of semi-finished products for fries (in the area collect excellent yields of potatoes!). 

 Of course, to create a successful food brand and unite under it dozens, if not hundreds of successful farmers and producers - it is not easy or cheap, but promising and profitable. Because investing in Baltasinsky district is like throwing grains into well-fertilized soil - the seedlings will be good, and the harvest will be rich.

 4 facts about Baltasi residents

1.In the village Baltasi lives "Tatar kyzy-2018 Tatarstan". - 22-year-old Guzel Gabdrakhmanova, who won the regional stage of the international competition. She was also called "The most intellectual" Tatar. Photo: Guzel Gabdrakhmanova    

2.    They love hockey here. Today there are 20 hockey teams in the district, and this is for 34 thousand people!

3.    The Baltasinsky residents appreciate pedigree horses. In recent years, the region's agricultural producers have become seriously interested in sports horse breeding, not for profit but the soul. And when a beautiful stallion takes the first prizes at the prestigious races, it's also a reason to be proud. Photo: horses

4.   Especially for their children adults annually hold a special Muslim children's Sabantui, with an emphasis on the preservation of religious traditions, national crafts, and Tatar language. 

Источники фото: sntat.ru, tatfrontu.ru, dumrt.ru, traditsiya.su, wynnstaydairy.uk, agrokapital.ru, altyn-orda.kz