Population 122,855 (2010) | Area 154 km² Founded October 16, 1967 | |
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Nefteyugansk (Russian: Нефтеюга́нск) is a city in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located south of the Ob River, close to the larger city of Surgut. Population: 122,855 (2010 Census); 107,830 (2002 Census); 93,930 (1989 Census).
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History
It was founded on October 16, 1967, after an oil field had been discovered on a small forest clearing in the middle of the taiga marshland in 1961. The main and the only big enterprise in the city, Yuganskneftegaz, was founded in February 1966. The name 'Yugansk' comes from the indigenous Khanty name of a small river near the city, neft' means oil in Russian, and gaz is natural gas. The economy of the city remains petroleum-based, and was a major center for the Russian oil enterprise YUKOS, which owned Yuganskneftegaz. In fact, the "Yu" in "YUKOS" comes from the "yu" in "Nefteyugansk" and therefore from "Yuganskneftegaz". The other three letters come from the oil-refining factory "Kuibyshev-Org-Sintez", situated in Samara.
On June 26, 1998, city mayor Vladimir Petukhov was shot dead on the way to his office. Before his murder, Petukhov had been on a hunger strike demanding that the chairmen of municipal and district tax offices be dismissed from their positions and a criminal case against Yukos be filed on counts of tax evasion. Petukhov's widow later on called for an investigation into Mikhail Khodorkovsky's role in events. Back then Khodorkovsky was head of Yukos. On September 20, 2005 Dmitry Yegortsev, acting mayor of Nefteyugansk, was assaulted and wounded with a knife. After the stabbing of Yegortsev, Igor Gribanov took over City Hall as acting mayor. Just a few month later, he died of carbon monoxide poisoning at his home on January 6, 2006.[1]
Since January 2005, Yuganskneftegaz has been owned by the state-owned oil company Rosneft.
Mayor of Nefteyugansk-Sergey Dektyarev
Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Nefteyugansk serves as the administrative center of Nefteyugansky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of okrug significance of Nefteyugansk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the city of okrug significance of Nefteyugansk is incorporated as Nefteyugansk Urban Okrug.
Transportation
The city is served by the Surgut International Airport.