Tynda () is a town in Amur Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Blagoveshchensk. It is an important railway junction, informally referred to as the capital of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. Its population has declined sharply in recent years:
Etymology
The name is of Evenk origin and is roughly translated as "on the river bank".
History
The settlement of Shkaruby was founded in 1917 on the present site of Tynda, as a rest stop and winter camp on the route from the Amur to the newly discovered gold fields on the Timpton River, a tributary of the Aldan. In 1928, in conjunction with construction of the highway to Yakutsk, it was renamed Tyndinsky ().
In 1932, plans for what would eventually become the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) named Tynda as a possible future hub station. A long rail line, connecting Tynda with BAM station (known as Bamovskaya) near Skovorodino on the Trans-Siberian Railway was constructed between 1933 and 1937, although this was then dismantled during World War II and the rails reused for other projects closer to the front. In 1941, Tynda was granted urban-type settlement status.
21st century
Following the death of Mayor Schultz in 2012, new elections were announced and held on 19 May 2013. Of the eleven candidates who nominated themselves for the post of mayor of the city, six remained. Voter turnout was low, at 32.4%. The candidate from the United Russia party, Yevgeny Cherenkov, became the head of the city, gaining 50.5% of the vote.
The Blagoveshchensk political observer Yevgeny Ogorodsky, on the eve of the elections, considered that:
After the announcement of the results of the elections for the mayor of the city, political scientist Yevgeny Trofimov commented on the victory of the "party of power":
In September 2018, Mayor Cherenkov lost the election to the candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Marina Mikhailova. Mikhailova was the runner-up to Cherenkov in the 2013 mayoral election, losing by about 14%. Upon her inauguration as mayor, Mikhailova promised several notable changes. She promised a review of the town's budget, including cancelling special pension provisions for elected officials, which were often called "golden parachutes", as well as cutting the salary of the Deputy Chairman of the town Duma.
In a 2020 interview with the Amurskaya Pravda, Mikhailova claimed she had made progress on several fronts. She said her administration was working to clear the backlog of applicants for municipal housing, reducing the number from 800 people on the waitlist down to about 200. Under the terms of the contract, the contractor agreed to complete the repairs by August 2024. At the same time, the contractor had to be paid money for the work done. However, in September, Mikhailova announced that the contractor hired by the town had done an inadequate job, and had nearly forgotten to make storm drains and channels for utility wirings. The contractor, Karer-A, suspended work in July 2022. In September, Mikhailova reported that Karer-A went insolvent. As of January 2025, Mikhailova maintains her innocence, and has filed another appeal to serve her remaining sentence through penal labor, considered less harsh than the penal colony.
| source =
Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Tynda serves as the administrative center of Tyndinsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As a municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban okrug status.
City leaders
{| class="wikitable"
|+Mayors of Tynda
!Start date
!End date
!Name
!Notes
|-
|1992
|2004
|Mark Borisovich Schultz
|
|-
|2004
|7 May 2008
|Viktor Anatolyevich Zubovatkin
|
|-
|7 May 2008
|14 December 2012
|Mark Borisovich Schultz
|
|-
|15 December 2012
|24 May 2013
| rowspan="2" |Yevgeny Petrovich Cherenkov
|as acting mayor
|-
|25 May 2013
|19 September 2018
|
|-
|20 September 2018
|9 December 2022
|Marina Valentinovna Mikhailova
|
|-
|10 December 2022
|current
|Igor Salnikov
|as acting mayor
|}
Demographics
Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians make up the majority of the town's population. In December 2011, Shane Smith of Vice News reported that North Korean loggers also worked in the region, strictly prohibited from speaking with journalists and residing in isolated camps which are closed to all other people.
Economy and transportation
thumb|Tynda train station
Tynda is the crossing point for the Baikal-Amur Mainline and Amur–Yakutsk Mainline railways. The town's station is one of the most important on both lines and possesses a large locomotive depot.
Other than railway-related activities, the town's economy relies largely on the timber industry, with the Tyndales corporation based here. The M56 motorway to Yakutsk also passes through the town.
The town is served by the Tynda Airport, located to the north. After being closed for a number of years, air services from Blagoveshchensk via Zeya resumed in 2007.
Notable people
- Narine Arakelian, Armenian interdisciplinary feminist artist
International relations
Twin towns and sister cities
Tynda is twinned with:
- Wenatchee, Washington, United States
References
Notes
Sources
External links
- Official website of Tynda
- In pictures: Siberian showcase's decline